Eccedentesiast
by RandomBoss
Summary: During the first six months after Tartarus. An eccedentesiast is a person whose smile is fake. Kagura was always good at hiding her emotions, but after the Games, she attempts to change her personality, but it's easier said than done. Meanwhile, Erza tries to cope with Fairy Tail's disbandment and pays a visit to Mermaid Heel. She decides to help her 'sister'. Sisterly Erza/Kagura
1. Prologue

**Hey all! Feels weird transitioning from SpongeBob to Fairy Tail. This is my attempt at a Fairy Tail fanfic. It might not be good at any stretch of the imagination, but please be lenient on me.**

 **Fiore July x763**

It was just another day in the office for the guild mages. Jobs consisted of the usual robberies, errands, and the occasional stopping of a dark guild or local monster.

A young woman stood atop the roof of what used to be the headquarters of a local dark guild that threatened the innocent villagers. Despite the many unconscious bodies of the dark guild members and the flames and debris of the headquarters, the view was almost breathtaking. Since the headquarters building was located on the side of a relatively large mountain, it revealed a mesmerizing view of the ocean leading to the Arakitashia Continent.

The young woman had long black hair tied by a familiar-looking white ribbon. She had shining hazel eyes, wore an elegant white, black and red kimono, had a slim figure and had a large bust. At her side was a familiar looking sheathed katana with white and gold stripes. The young woman smiled at the view. This completed Class S job was meant to be her last job as a guild mage for some time, after all, for she was getting married in a matter of days.

All she had in her thoughts was her husband, a local man from a village where she completed one of her jobs, and her future and what it held for her. She wondered what her future as a mage would be like, what her future children would look like and what kinds of mages they would be like growing up. Every thought that passed through her head was both intimidating and invigorating. The view put her mind off the matter, but this didn't last long as another young woman, about the same age, with blue eyes and brown hair strolled up to the other woman.

"Elena-sama, we're heading back now!" She shouted.

"Alright, Anita! I'll be down shortly!" Elena shouted back.

As Anita made her way back down the headquarters building, Elena turned back to the view in front of her. She sighed.

 _Here's to my future._ Elena thought with a sad smile on her face.

As excited and anxious as she was of what was in store for her, Elena didn't expect her temporary retirement to be so bittersweet. Her experiences with her guild mates were some of the most fun experiences in her life. Leaving it indefinitely felt like leaving her family and never seeing them for years.

She shook her head at herself. There's still hope. When her future children are old enough to handle themselves, she would return to her guild and see her friends and teammates again. With that thought in mind, Elena climbed down the mountain. At the base of the mountain, Elena's four teammates stood proudly at another job well done. Elena nodded at Anita, signaling her that they were heading out.

When the team reached the village, the locals were cheering and thanking Elena and her team for rescuing them from that dangerous dark guild. Elena couldn't help but overhear two young girls, both about the age of ten, squealing at the sight of her team.

"Oh my gosh! Is that who I think it is?!" One of the girls screamed.

"It's Elena Mikazuchi, in the flesh!" The other squealed back as she and her friend both jumped up and down in extreme excitement.

All of a sudden, another young girl, slightly younger than them, asked, "Wait, who's Elena Mikazuchi?"

One of the young girls took a copy of a recent Sorcerers' Weekly magazine and enthusiastically answered, "Elena Mikazuchi is one of the most powerful women in Fiore! The Sorcerers' Weekly listed her as the second most powerful woman in Fiore, just behind a solo ice mage from the Land of Isvan named Ur Milkovich. Elena's currently the ace of the most popular all-female guild Mermaid Heel! I want to become a mage just so I can join the guild and meet her face-to-face!"

The younger girl then asked, "What kind of magic does she use?"

The other girl answered with equal enthusiasm as the first girl, "She uses Elemental Gravity Magic! She can make people heavy or float then she traps them with water or fire as a finishing blow!"

"Her team is also one of the best teams in Fiore! There's Anita Arco the second in command. She uses Metal Magic. There's Naomi the Vixen, the Mythological Takeover mage, and there's Zeeta Amira the Astral Mage. The last one must be new. I don't know her, but if she's in Elena-sama's team, she MUST be strong!" The first girl finished introducing the rest of Elena's team to the other girls, while they were all staring in awe and admiration.

Elena laughed to herself. _Maybe one day. I look forward to recruiting you guys to the guild._ She said to the two girls indirectly. No doubt, she will miss this a lot.

* * *

 **Fiore May x771**

It had been eight years since Elena left the Mermaid Heel guild. Life had been simple and happy, for Elena spent most of her savings as donations to the guild, leaving a reasonable amount left to provide for her family.

A lot of unexpected events happened between those eight years. She now had two children: a son named Simon, who was six, and a daughter named Kagura, who was about to turn three. Simon had the same hair as Elena. He also shared his mother's personality and intuition. Kagura shared her mother's hairstyle, eye color, and appearance. Elena couldn't be happier with them. Unfortunately, her husband died of a disease shortly after Simon was born. Despite this, Simon somehow managed to remember his father's looks. Elena became quite depressed when her husband died, but she used her grief for her loss, her love for her family, and her fear for her children's safety as motivation to move on and protect her children at all possible costs.

Elena was reading Kagura to sleep. As soon as her daughter went to sleep, Elena kissed her forehead goodnight and went towards her own bed. As soon as she reached her bedroom door, loud, desperate knocks were heard from the front door.

Elena sighed. "Who could be up at this hour?" She grumbled to herself in slight annoyance.

Hoping the knocks didn't wake up the kids, Elena hastily walked to her front door. When she opened the door, an apprehensive Anita was panting and sweating profusely.

"El…Elen…E…" Anita panted.

"What is it, Anita-san?" Elena asked with slight concern for her former teammate.

After taking a second to catch her breath, Anita started to speak, "Elena-sama, we need your help with this job request!"

Elena sighed. "Anita-san.. I'm retired. I have kids. As much as I want to, I can't help you."

Anita yelled, "This is serious, Elena-sama! This request is from the Council!"

Elena's eyes widened and snatched the request paper from Anita's hand.

She read aloud, "Need help immediately. Followers of Zeref raiding small and medium sized villages stealing children and massacring adults throughout Northern Fiore. Multiple guilds exterminated or imprisoned attempting to stop the cultists. Reward: 50 million jewel."

Anita begged, "I understand that you're retired and have kids, but please, Elena-sama! None of us can do this without you! Join us for old time's sake! I promise this will be your last job until you return."

Elena thought about the situation at hand. She was still in retirement, with children still too young to be left alone. The guild was too far for a babysitter to be sent to protect them, and the local villagers all have their own agendas to tend to. Maybe another guild like Fairy Tail, Phantom Lord, Blue Pegasus, or Lamia Scale could take the reigns. They all seemed more suitable for this request than Mermaid Heel, at least currently.

On the other hand, the request stated that these cultists were stealing children. On principle, Elena knew that what they were doing was beyond inhumane and must be stopped at all costs. She also feared that the cultists would eventually reach Rosemary Village and take Simon and Kagura away from her, make them slaves, and dispose of them as soon as whatever their demented project was was completed. Her stomach turned just at the thought. Also, Elena couldn't deny that she wanted to reunite with her old team for one last job, at least for a while.

With her mind made up, Elena nodded to Anita, "Alright, just one last job. To save my children, and for nostalgia's sake."

"YES! Now c'mon, Elena-sama! The whole guild misses you!" Anita beamed.

Suddenly, Elena and Anita turned and noticed Simon and Kagura behind the front door, confused at what was going on.

"Mom? Who is this? What's going on?" Simon asked. Meanwhile, Kagura hid behind Simon, intimidated at Anita because she was a complete stranger to her.

"I'm just going to work with my friend Anita here, Simon." Elena told Simon. "Now please, go back to bed, you two. It's way past your bedtime."

"But where are you going?" Simon asked.

"Far, Sweetie." Elena answered. "I gotta go now. Please go to bed, stay inside while I'm gone, and take care of your little sister, Simon. Goodnight."

Simon, understanding his mother's request, turned around and went to bed. Meanwhile, Kagura stayed.

"Mommy, are you coming back home?" Kagura asked, tears appearing in her eyes.

Elena tensed up. She hated seeing Kagura in that state. It broke her heart to see this expression from her. She kneeled down and hugged her daughter. "Yes. I promise, Kagura." Elena promised.

As she let go of her mother, Kagura wiped the tears off her eyes as Simon appeared again and helped his little sister to her bed.

Elena smiled as she looked back to her children before she closed the front door. Anita then led her former guild ace to the nearest train station.

With a lot of enthusiasm, Anita said, "You won't believe how happy the guild will be to see you again! Naomi has been so depressed since you left and Maria has been practicing harder than ever." Unintentionally, Elena drowned Anita's nonstop chattering with multiple thoughts regarding the guild's reaction to her return and her kids' safety. With all her heart, she truly hoped that she made the right decision. But there was one problem. Why did she have the feeling that she won't make it out of this job alive?

Next afternoon, Elena received a more in-depth analysis of the job request from Mermaid Heel's master. It turned out that the group of cultists spanned into an alliance of dozens of small yet quite powerful dark guilds. Taking this into account, Elena spent the rest of the morning running down a plan and a backup plan to her team. The plan involved a lot of stealth, information gathering, and prisoner liberation. It was obviously a lot easier said than done, but Mermaid Heel was the only available guild that stood against the Child Hunters. Currently, Elena's team was on a carriage on the way to a nearby village that was in the middle of the Child Hunters' invasion path according to the team's predictions.

Elena was still worried about Simon and Kagura. She couldn't stand the thought of her children becoming slaves and sacrifices to the cultists' project. At least Rosemary Village was still very far from where she was headed.

She then focused back to the job at hand. There didn't seem to be any large guild building or any main headquarters like the rest of the dark guild and dark guild alliances Elena and her team faced. The Child Hunters were a mobile group, simply raiding villages, massacring people who got in their way, then disappear to another village to repeat the process. If there was a headquarters, it seemed so secluded and isolated that even the Magic Council was unable to locate it.

Elena then faced her teammates. They were all both excited and scared, and rightfully so. Even though it was nostalgic and heartwarming to be reunited as a team again after all these years, they hoped that circumstances were at least a little less dire. Elena faced Anita, who was asleep. Anita was the only person Elena had seen from time to time during her retirement, so she was familiar to her looks and progress after eight years.

The rest of the team was a pleasant surprise for Elena. She noticed that Naomi was slimmer and mentally and magically stronger than the last time Elena saw her. Zeeta felt a lot more powerful and scary. She was not somebody to be messed with. She was ready for battle; Elena could see it in her eyes. Elena then turned to the teammate that impressed her most. Maria was new to the guild overall eight years ago. Elena saw potential in her and inducted her into the team. As a result, Maria viewed Elena as a role model and an inspiration to become stronger. Anita told her of Maria's progress as a mage, and she was impressed just hearing about it, but seeing the end result made her speechless. Maria looked a lot more serious, a lot more collected, a lot more powerful, and a lot more mature. Maria improved mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and magically.

Elena smiled. Maybe after this is over, she could join the guild back. She could move closer to the guildhall with her children. She could teach them magic so they could join guilds of their choice, and she looked forward to how potentially powerful both of them will be. She could already tell that Simon and Kagura will grow up to become brilliant mages.

All of a sudden, the horses pulling the carriage lost their composure, shaking the carriage. Elena and her team jumped in surprise, and Anita woke up from her slumber.

"Huh? Are we there now?" Anita asked groggily.

The coachman calmed the horses down. He then turned to the team.

"I'm sorry, ladies, but this seems to be the furthest the horses want to go. I'll have to drop you off here." The coachman told them.

"This isn't right. Our stop isn't for another fifteen minutes." Elena argued.

"I understand, Miss, but the horses feel something wrong is ahead, and I can't argue against their animal instinct." The coachman apologized.

Elena sighed. "We'll walk the rest of the way. Thanks for the escort, sir," she bowed to the coachman.

The coachman bowed back and turned the horses around, bringing them back to their hometown.

"Do we have to walk? I'm still tired." Anita complained.

"Oh, shut your trap, Anita-san. We'll be there in less than an hour," Maria snapped.

Elena gestured her team to pick up the pace. Like the horses, she had an uneasy feeling, as if something happened to the village they were assigned to protect.

The team walked for about half an hour before they saw multiple smoke trails. Elena gasped.

"No…. It can't be.." Elena gasped. She started running.

Confused, concerned, and scared, the rest of the team started running after her. When they arrived just close enough to distinctly see the village. Elena's fears were correct. The village was obliterated. The rest of the team gasped at the sight.

"Judging by the smoke, the village was attacked no more than 48 hours ago." Zeeta analyzed.

"We're too late…" Elena whispered as she fell to her knees. _How am I going to tell Master? What are we gonna do now? What if they're after Simon and Kagura right now?_ Elena thought as she grew agitated and scared.

She then felt a hand on her back. Anita smiled as she comforted her leader.

"It's not over yet, Elena-sama," Anita assured, "Like Zeeta-san said, the village hasn't been destroyed for that long. Let's search around and find any survivors and signs of where they may be headed." Elena nodded and stood up. She faced the rest of the team.

"Everyone split up for now and search for clues or survivors. Report back to this spot when you're done." Elena said.

"Aye, Elena-sama." The rest of the team responded. With that, everybody split up and searched the perimeter of the village.

Many dead bodies were sprawled about the ground, as if they stood absolutely no chance. A mix of the putrid odor of rotting flesh and the suffocating smell of smoke, fire, ash, soot and debris filled the air. Elena could also feel an eerie feeling, as if somebody was watching her, and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Elena then felt a tap on her shoulder. In surprise, she turned and readied the hilt of her sword only to find a flinching Anita backing away in fear of getting ambushed.

"Damn it, Anita-san. Don't sneak up on me like that!" Elena shouted to her teammate.

"Sorry, Elena-sama," Anita apologized, "I'm just here to report that I haven't seen any survivors, and that there were faint footprints heading west."

Zeeta and Maria showed up next. "I didn't see any survivors either, but I did notice that all of the corpses are adults. These cultists indeed steal children. They may steal more fit adults as well, for every corpse seems old, scrawny, and weak." Zeeta informed the rest of her team. Maria nodded in confirmation.

"Guys, where's Naomi?" Anita asked. Maria shrugged.

"I didn't seem to hear anything. Shall I search for her?" Zeeta suggested.

"We'll all search together. I have a bad feeling about this place. We need to be on high alert at all times from here on out." Elena ordered. Anita, Zeeta, and Maria all nodded in agreement before walking back into the village.

The team made it to the central plaza without incident. To the rest of the team, it was a sign of relief, but for Elena and Zeeta, it increased their suspicions.

 _It's like, as we get deeper into the village, this creepy eerie feeling gets worse._ Elena thought to herself.

Multiple bodies appeared on the ground of the plaza. Anita noticed that there was a single pile of corpses in front of a school. The smell of rotten flesh intensified as the team stepped closer.

"I was with Naomi before we split up. She was headed to the center of the village." Maria told her team.

"It's possible she saw all this if that's the case." Elena replied.

The eerie feeling was at its worst where they stopped. Elena started breathing more rapidly, fear spreading throughout her body. The rest of the team was losing their composure as well. Elena placed a hand on the hilt of her still sheathed sword, while Anita and Zeeta went into fighting pose.

"Zeeta, Maria, search the pile for anything suspicious. Anita and I will stand guard here." Elena ordered as she readied her sword.

Zeeta and Maria nodded as they steadily walked towards the pile of corpses.

"Naomi, are you here?" Maria whispered. There was no reply.

When they made it right in front of the pile of bodies, Maria started moving the bodies to the side while Zeeta kneeled beside her in case anything went wrong. As Maria picked up the third body, Zeeta heard a faint click. Her eyes widened. Out of reaction, she pulled Maria to get up.

"GAS BOMBS!" Zeeta screamed. A large gas explosion resulted, hitting Maria and instantly knocking her unconscious despite Zeeta's efforts to save her.

"MARIA!" Anita yelled. All of a sudden, dozens of Child Hunters emerged from the roofs and doors of the destroyed buildings. One of them held an unconscious Naomi slung on his shoulder.

"Booby trapping the dead. These fuckers are inhumane!" Anita exclaimed.

"Nobody ambushes and attacks my teammates while I'm around!" Elena growled. She placed her sword in front of her as the sword glowed red. A large magical circle appeared over the entire plaza. The Child Hunters and some of the debris from the destroyed buildings started floating, while Elena and her team also glowed red, indicating they were exempt from the effects of the Gravity Change magic. Elena wasn't done yet. The sword then glowed orange, and the atmosphere within the magical circle burst into flames. Many of the Child Hunters were lit on fire. Anita conjured a metal sword of her own and slashed at a small group of cultists. The Hunters' bodies dropped to the ground as Elena reversed the effect of her gravity spell.

Elena then unsheathed her sword. "Archenemy, let me wield your power," she whispered to her sword.

Meanwhile, Zeeta teleported to Naomi's unconscious body, and she ambushed the man holding her without him realizing she snuck behind him.

"Naomi, get up! We have to get out of here!" Zeeta shouted to Naomi. The Takeover Mage didn't budge.

All of a sudden, another wave of Child Hunters appeared from out of nowhere. They threw gas bombs at the team. Elena and Anita swatted many of them away. Zeeta looked up to see the Child Hunters circling around her, weapons and gas bombs in hand. Zeeta made a fighting stance and called in a meteor shower, hitting half of the circle. One Child Hunter snuck behind her and tossed a sleeping gas bomb to her. Zeeta's eyes widened as she tried to dodge out of its blast radius, but she didn't make it out in time as the bomb blew up. Zeeta tried to stay awake, but the effects of the sleeping gas bomb were too strong.

"Elena-sama, I'm sorry." Zeeta whispered as she fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

Anita turned Zeeta's way and saw that the Child Hunters knocked her out.

"No! Zeeta's down." Anita told Elena. Elena stomped the ground in frustration.

"Damn it! It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Elena yelled.

The Child Hunters surrounded the two remaining members of the team. Though they didn't want to admit it, both Anita and Elena knew that they were outnumbered; therefore they were outmatched as well. But that didn't stop either of them from fighting back. If those scumbag hunters want to take them, they'll need all the effort they could get before the two most powerful Mermaid Heel members would surrender.

Anita and Elena both stood back to back. They both then swung their swords at the same time, hitting a lot of the Child Hunters. Elena summoned a mini-black hole to suck many of the Child Hunters into a random part of the city, knocking them out in the process. Anita used her sword to swallow up all of the Hunters' weapons, thus increasing the power of her sword. She struck the ground, causing a metal cage to form, catching many of the Hunters.

One Child Hunter suddenly threw a bomb into the air. Assuming it was a sleeping gas bomb, Anita slashed it, only to find out that it was a flash bomb. Her slash caused the flash bomb to explode. Because the Child Hunters had their eyes covered, they were unaffected by the flash bomb. Elena was looking the other way, so the flash bomb didn't really affect her. Anita was completely blinded, and started blindly slashing everywhere hoping to hit someone. With the upper hand, a Child Hunter slammed his stone axe handle at the back of Anita's head, knocking her unconscious.

Elena soon discovered that she was the only member of her team left. _This can't be happening! This just can't!_ She cursed to herself. Two Child Hunters went in to attack. With zero effort, Elena took them down with a single slash. She parried to the right, hitting another cultist. She then shifted her gravity to the city hall building, causing most of the Hunters to hurdle towards the building's walls. The space the gravity was affecting then froze into ice as Elena activated her elemental gravity.

Jumping over the freshly made ice structure, Elena landed only to find out another wave of Child Hunters appeared from the east. Elena looked down at her sword and at her unconscious teammates.

"It's no use. They just keep coming. My team is out for the count, and I am still rusty on my magic." Elena told herself.

For a second, she considered surrendering, but she knew she had to fight to protect her team, and her children. These monsters were responsible for the deaths of thousands of adults, and the kidnapping of thousands of children. She refused to let her children fall victim to these scum.

With the last of her effort, Elena sprinted at the new wave of Child Hunters. With several slashes and gravity alterations, she managed to take down most of the assailants. Suddenly, a flash bomb was thrown her way. Elena turned around in an attempt to minimize the effects of the flash bomb, but that move opened her guard. A Child Hunter tackled her to the ground as the rest of them watched on alert and collected the unconscious bodies of Elena's team. Elena tried her best to fight the Hunter that took her down, but a swift kick in the face by another Child Hunter was enough to knock her out cold.

Elena woke up with a massive headache. She discovered that she was tied up to a chair, her arms tied behind her back and her legs wrapped around the chair legs. The leader of the Child Hunters, his eyes shielded just like the rest of them, emerged from the shadows.

"Ah. You're finally awake." The Child Hunter leader exclaimed.

Elena growled. "What do you want from us? What do you want with all the kids you monsters kidnapped?" She asked, glaring daggers at her captor.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" The Hunter asked back. He proceeded to open the window. Elena saw a nearby structure being built. It looked like it was just beginning. As much as she could, Elena then looked down to see that the slaves building the structure were mostly children and able adults. _This… This must be their headquarters!_ Elena thought. Many of the children were scared for their lives. The ones that were crying were whipped into submission or threatened by angry dogs on leashes. The very sight made Elena sick to her stomach.

"We are building a Tower of Heaven as a tribute and as a ritual to resurrect our Lord Zeref. These slaves will be disposed of as sacrifices to the ritual, for Lord Zeref loves to collect the souls of the young and dead," The Child Hunter explained.

"You sick motherfucker!" Elena growled. The leader simply laughed.

"You mages are hilarious!" He said, "You guys will make such wonderful sacrifices and slaves as well!" Elena glared in response.

"And where's the rest of my team?" Elena asked under her breath.

"They aren't so useful as slaves, so we decided to execute them outright. They'll be amongst the first sacrifices of this wonderful project." The leader replied.

Rage built up inside Elena. These poor kids, this cowardly pathetic excuse for a leader, her own team, her children, they all needed her help, and it was up to her to set things right. She realized also that this method of tying wasn't meant for mages, but for regular citizens that were too weak to fight back.

Elena smirked. _Amateurs..._ She thought. With minimal effort, she broke free of her ropes and used her gravity magic on the leader, distracting him. She then used her magic on herself in order to free her legs. She escaped through the back door, looking for her sword and her team.

The leader was freed of the gravity magic soon after Elena left. He tried chasing after her, but she was too quick.

The leader growled. He ran to two guards. "A prisoner is escaping! Search for her and bring her to me, dead or alive!" He ordered. The guards nodded and spread the word.

An alarm sounded. Elena had barely any idea where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to go, and quickly. She quickly scoured every room, searching for her teammates or her sword. About ten doors in, she found an armory of sorts. It was only open ajar. She hastily but quietly opened it, spotting peculiar weaponry. At the corner was her sword, sheathed. Elena sighed with relief. She was more confident now that her sword was at her side.

She quickly closed the armory as soon as she heard guards patrolling the area. By now, most of the island should know about her presence. She needed to find her friends. Now.

Elena assumed that the ground buildings had a place for prisoners that misbehaved or were found to be mages. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw guards bringing a rather unruly slave into one of the buildings. She followed them as stealthily as she could, but with the majority of the guards looking for her, stealth will be difficult. She managed to reach the front of the door undetected. Before she could open the door, she heard screams and moans of pain. She carefully made her way through the building, wanting to discover if this was where they kept the prisoners that they had a hard time controlling.

Elena saw a stairway that went under the ground. She grabbed a torch and lit it, then wandered down the stairs. She heard the screams become louder and louder the farther down she went. At the bottom of the stairs, she found out what the building's purpose was, and knowing now, she wished she didn't know. This building was a torture chamber. She saw instruments of torture, some covered with blood and she saw bloodied up slaves, some of them unconscious. The conscious ones cowered in fear at the sight of the light the torch was emitting.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out soon," Elena told the prisoners quietly.

She went deeper into the torture building. She could feel something purely evil ahead; it gave her chills. Elena discovered that there was a single door at the end of the building. The familiar smell of rotting flesh filled the air, making her nauseous as she covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve. She slowly opened the door to see that it was an execution room. Elena sprinted to a conveniently dark corner of the large room, stacked with a few crates of extermination weapons. She saw guards enter from the back door of the room.

 _That's my way out if I'm compromised._ Elena noted to herself. The guards were then followed by Elena's teammates. All of them were terrified, except Anita, who was trying to put up a brave front. Elena knew that her best friend was scared to death, and she knew that Anita didn't like showing fear. Maria was crying, and Naomi and Zeeta were not too far from tears.

She overheard one of the guards speaking, "Your little leader friend is on the loose. Your lives will be our bargaining tool, and you are all sacrifices to the Tower of Heaven. This is a win for us either way."

"Elena-sama is going to free us. I know it! Then we'll kick your asses and free all of your slaves!" Anita shouted.

The other guard slapped her across the face. "Heh! We'd love to see you try!" He laughed.

Elena gripped her sword. _Just a little longer…_ She whispered to herself.

Another figure entered the room. It was the Child Hunters' leader. He smirked as he looked at Elena's teammates. Anita glared at the man, while Maria and Zeeta were staring back in fear, begging with their eyes to be spared. One of the guards had some sort of intercom lacrima.

 _Their leader must be trying to contact me. He's trying to make me surrender by threatening me with my friends' lives. He's gonna pay for all this._ Elena thought to herself.

The leader spoke, "Elena Mikazuchi! I know you can hear me! I have your precious friends here begging for their lives! If you do not give yourself up now, every five minutes one of your friends will have her throat slit!" The other guard held a machete at Anita's throat. Her brave front was completely gone as she begged for her life.

"PLEASE! Please don't kill me! ELENA-SAMA!" Anita screamed.

Maria, Zeeta, and Naomi, all in tears, screamed and prayed that their leader was close. Hopelessness started filling their hearts.

Elena shut her eyes. _I have one shot. Make it count, Elena._ She told herself.

The leader smirked as the guard held the machete closer to Anita's throat.

"You have five seconds to comply! Five! Four!" _Here I go._ Elena used her magic on herself and flew to the ceiling. "Three!" She ran to where the guard holding Anita stood. She reversed her gravity and fell to the ground, quickly unsheathing her sword. "Two!" She made a stance in mid-air. "One!" Tears flowed down Anita's face. _Elena-sama, I failed you._ Anita thought. Just as she accepted her fate, Elena appeared in a flash and all of a sudden, the guard's head was separated from his body and dropped to the ground, motionless. The leader stood there, shocked and angry at the Elemental Gravity mage. Elena then quickly broke the chains on the rest of her team, while her team cheered and cried tears of joy that their team leader saved them.

The other guard tried to reach for his weapon but Anita quickly threw a metal dagger at his throat. The guard fell to the ground as he drowned in his own blood and died seconds later.

The Child Hunters' leader scowled at the Mermaid Heel ace. "You… How did you get here?!" He yelled.

Elena smirked. "Easy, through the front door," she replied.

"I'll get you back for this! You're never escaping from this island!" The leader yelled as he teleported out of the room.

Elena turned to her still crying team. "You guys okay?" She asked.

"ELENA-SAMA!" Anita, Zeeta, Maria, and Naomi all screamed as they hugged their captain. They all burst into happy tears that Elena saved their lives. Elena smiled and hugged back, tears almost escaping her own eyes. After their heartfelt reunion, Elena broke away from the hug.

Elena ran down a plan, "We need to get out of here. The entire base is coming after us as we speak, and we still need to get these prisoners out of here. Zeeta, you have teleportation magic. Teleport yourself, Maria and Naomi to a nearby warship and hijack it so we have something to escape this island with. Inform us as soon as you guys successfully take over the ship. Anita, you're with me. You and I will break out as many prisoners as possible, and escort them to the hijacked warship. Got it?"

"Got it!" The team replied back. With that, everyone hastily did their jobs.

Zeeta, Maria, and Naomi quickly teleported to the closest warship. Fortunately, the ship was not very strongly guarded, so the three teammates hijacked it with ease. Zeeta teleported back to Anita and Elena to inform them that they successfully hijacked the ship, while Maria and Naomi stood guard of the ship.

Elena used her gravity magic to free the prisoners in the torture building, while Anita took care of the guards who dared to enter the hallway.

Zeeta teleported to her two captains. "The ship is ours. Naomi is taking it to port right now," Zeeta informed.

Elena nodded as she freed the last of the slaves in the torture building. "Nice job. Can you teleport these slaves to the ship?" She asked.

Zeeta nodded. "I'll teleport as much as I could," she replied. Zeeta then managed to teleport with all of the slaves to the ship.

Elena and Anita moved out to the courtyard, where the rest of the slaves were located. In their way, a whole army of guards stood in battle stance. Elena quickly used her Elemental Gravity magic on the group of guards, freezing them or setting them on fire with ease.

While Elena was busy with the guards, Anita yelled at all of the prisoners, "EVERYONE! COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO BE FREE!" The prisoners, noticing that she was not associated with the Child Hunters, followed her to the port. There, Maria gestured the prisoners to hurry and climb on.

Anita smiled, knowing that their job was almost over. Meanwhile, after defeating the last of the guards in the area, Elena noticed explosive lacrima barrels stacked in front of a cave, as if they were meant to increase the area of the Tower of Heaven as it progressed. She used her gravity magic to move them under the structure. She turned to the warship, seeing that the last of the prisoners were boarding the ship. She then noticed that there was a detonator a good distance away from the cave. She ran and picked it up. She got onto the warship that held all the prisoners and her team.

"I found this and decided that this is necessary so that they will never go through with their plan," Elena told her team. She pressed the detonator down, only to find out that it was a dud.

Elena grunted in frustration, throwing the detonator into the sea. She thought for a moment. She had to make sure that these evil beings never become a threat ever again. She knew that it wasn't required, but she knew what she signed up for becoming a guild mage. A mage had to remove all threats, not delay them. Blowing up their project was the best way to hold them back for a while. On the other hand, she had kids waiting for her to come home, and she promised Kagura that she'd return home. Elena sighed. _This is something I have to do, to keep my kids and so many other kids from falling victim to this atrocity._ She thought. She was about to jump from the ship, but someone grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing, Elena-sama?" Anita asked.

"The detonator failed. Somebody has to blow up that tower so the Child Hunters never go through with their plans ever again, and that someone is going to be me." Elena answered.

"NO! I won't let you die, Elena-sama!" Anita protested. The other team members overheard their argument.

"What's going on, Anita-san?" Zeeta asked.

"Elena-sama wants to sacrifice her life blowing up the tower." Anita replied, frowning at Elena.

"WHAT? NO! I WON'T LET YOU, ELENA-SAMA!" Maria yelled as she hugged Elena.

Elena sighed. "This is something I have to do, guys," she said.

"But why? We're all here! We can go home! If they try to attack again, some other guild can fill in for us!" Zeeta shouted.

"But that means risking more innocent lives. We have to end it here and now." Elena reasoned. She turned to Anita. "Tell Simon and Kagura that Mommy is sorry that she couldn't return home, and that Mommy loves them very much."

"NO! WE'RE GOING HOME TOGETHER! I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU, ELENA-SAMA!" Anita screamed, tears escaping her eyes. The rest of the team begged their captain to stay on the ship, but to their dismay, Elena's mind was set.

Elena walked up to Anita and hugged her. "You guys made it all possible for me. I wouldn't have been here without the help from all of you." Anita started sobbing as Elena tried letting go of the hug, only to find out the rest of the team joined in on the hug. They all started crying.

"We'll… We'll miss you, Elena-sama…" Maria murmured.

"I'll miss you all too," Elena said back. She turned to Anita and gave her best friend her sheathed sword and her hair ribbon.

"Take this to remember me by. Maybe give it to Kagura when she's ready," Elena told Anita.

Anita didn't say anything. All she did was grasp the ribbon and sword tightly and cry fresh tears of grief for her best friend.

Elena climbed on top of the side of the ship. She turned to face her team one last time. They all waved goodbye to their captain, tears freely rolling down their cheeks. Elena smiled a smile that the team would remember for the rest of their lives. It was a smile of pure bravery and heart, the smile of a true hero.

Elena jumped out of the ship right as it pulled away from the port. She made her way to the explosive lacrima barrels. She amplified all the magic power she had left in her. It was so strong everything else was swept out of the way and the ground started to shake. The shaking was so strong everyone on the ship could feel it.

When her magic was amplified to its full potential, Elena thought of everyone that made an impact on her life. Her guild, her friends, and especially her precious children.

Elena closed her eyes in regret. _Simon, take care of your little sister. You're all she has now, and she needs you more than ever. Kagura…_ She paused, remembering her promise. Tears escaped her eyes as she remembered the look on her two year-old daughter's face when she left. She continued, _Kagura, I'm sorry. Mommy didn't keep her promise, but she loves you, with all her heart._

Elena opened her eyes. "Gravity Magic Secret Art: Gravitational Compression!" She screamed at the top of her voice. The barrels reacted as it started to expand under all of the pressure, causing it to become denser. The ending result would make the barrels explode in a massive chain eruption. As the barrels exploded, Elena closed her eyes with one last thought in mind, _Goodbye, my friends, my family. I love you all._

From the warship, the explosion was so high that the debris almost hit the ship. The prisoners started cheering that the hell they went through was finally over. Everyone on Elena's team fell to their knees and burst into tears. Anita was the only one to stay standing. Grasping the sword and the ribbon even tighter, she screamed into the sky, "ELENA-SAMA!"

When they got back to the guild, Elena's team, still extremely grief-stricken, noticed that the rest of the guild was planning a surprise welcome back party for Elena upon her return. The sight broke their hearts even more. Words cannot describe how painful their impending reactions would be to find out that Elena gave her life to save them all. The Mermaid Heel guild master then showed up, enthusiastic at the team's return.

"You guys have returned! Congratulations at a job well done! As we speak, the town is petitioning to have a statue built in Elena-san's honor. I personally can't wait to see her reaction!" Master exclaimed.

Elena's team tensed up. Anita walked forward, her hair overshadowing her eyes.

"Where's Elena-san anyways? Is she trying to surprise us with her return?" Master asked.

Anita didn't answer. Her arms started shaking as she fought the tears trying to escape her eyes. She held out what was in her arms. Master discovered that Anita was holding Elena's ribbon and her sheathed sword.

Master's eyes widened, and she looked at the rest of the team to see them in a similar state of depression. "It can't be… Elena-san's…" she said in disbelief and shock. Anita gritted her teeth as she lost her fight against her tears as they started escaping her eyes again. The rest of the team started crying again.

"But we had so much planned for Elena-san. We all eagerly awaited her return," Master said.

Anita finally spoke, "Elena-sama… She gave her life to save us and to make sure none of this would ever happen again. Her bravery… is immeasurable! She died a hero!" The rest of the team nodded in agreement as tears escaped their eyes again, recalling Elena's last smile.

With that, almost the entire guild burst into tears. Master looked to the ground in grief. The heir to guild master was gone when they least expected, but by Anita's description, Elena did what she expected a true mage to do: to lay down her life in order to do the right thing.

What was supposed to be a happy day full of celebration turned into an early heartbreaking funeral for Mermaid Heel's greatest hero. Anita knew the hardest part wasn't done yet. She still had to break the news to Elena's children.

A day passed, and Anita already saw the effects of Elena's death in the guild. Members already left the guild due to lack of motivation, and others fell into total depression. Even Master fell into a state of complete sadness.

As she stood in front of Elena's front door, she took out Elena's ribbon. She gave the sword as a sort of monument and keepsake at the guild. When the time is right, Kagura is to wield the sword. She stood still for a while, trying to bring up the courage to tell Simon and Kagura about their mother's passing.

When she finally felt she was ready, she knocked on the door. To Anita's slight dismay, Kagura answered the door. "Mommy?!" She asked excitedly. Anita tensed up, her courage quickly deteriorating. She was hoping Simon would answer. Kagura hid behind the door, still quite intimidated of Anita. Fortunately, Simon came to the door, and Kagura hid behind him.

"It's you. The other woman that Mom went to work with," Simon recalled. Anita sighed.

"Simon, Kagura, your mother… didn't…" She paused, tears starting to escape her eyes again. Too young to take the hint, Simon and Kagura looked confused.

"What happened to Mom, Anita-san?" Simon asked, showing concern.

"Your mother… she died saving me and all of her friends." Anita shouted as more tears escaped her eyes. _What's the point of putting on a brave face? My best friend is gone!_ Anita shouted to herself.

Simon's face fell to depression, "Mom's gone?" Kagura burst into tears, holding on to her older brother tighter.

"MOMMY!" Kagura screamed as she hugged Simon.

"Come with me. We're holding a memorial service for her. You can stay at my home for the time being," Anita said. She turned to Simon and gave him Elena's ribbon, "Simon, give this to Kagura for her birthday. It's from your mother as a gift." Simon clutched it tight and nodded. He placed it in his pocket as he took the still crying Kagura's hand as they both followed Anita to the Mermaid Heel guildhall, where Elena's official funeral was to take place. The petition for Elena's statue passed, and it now became the statue for her tomb. It portrayed her final smile to her team as she gave her life for her friends and family.

And this was the day Kagura started detesting promises, even though she didn't realize it at the time.

* * *

 **Fiore x774**

Simon and Kagura were eating dinner peacefully. It had been a rough three years for them both. Kagura's shyness almost doubled since their mother's passing. Even with frequent visitors like Anita and Erza, Kagura would still hide from them at first. Despite the many times Simon told her to introduce herself to Erza, Kagura would cower behind him. Simon couldn't blame her, though. This was her way of coping with their mother's death.

Kagura was now six years old, and since their mother's funeral, she was inspired to be strong like her mother. Her self-consciousness over her youth and the personal pressure of trying to be like her mother caused her to be incredibly shy.

While cleaning the dishes, Kagura was reading a comic book of a female hero saving her town with her sword. She gasped in surprise and excitement.

"Onii-chan, look! She saved her town with her sword!" Kagura exclaimed.

"Ah, so she did," Simon said, smiling.

"I want to learn how to use a sword, too! I want to be a superhero so I can save people and so we could get money to move to a better place with all our friends!" Kagura said, smiling.

Simon smiled back. "I promise, I'll be there when you master the sword. I'm sure Anita-san would also love to see you master the sword too. It'll remind her of Mom," he replied.

Kagura looked down in sadness. She forgot that their mom used a sword too, and she was claimed a hero. She smiled again at her brother, knowing that he will be proud of her when she masters the sword, and she was sure that Mom would be proud of her too.

"I wonder if Anita-san will teach me how to use a sw-" Kagura stopped when she and Simon heard screaming and explosions.

Simon stood up instantly, whispering, "Erza…"

Kagura hid next to her brother, "Onii-chan, I'm scared."

Simon headed to the door. "Wait here and hide, Kagura, I need to see what's going on."

Without arguing back, Kagura hid under her bed as Simon stepped out of their house. A group of Child Hunters invaded Rosemary Village. They were killing adults and capturing the children.

"Erza! Where are you?! Are you okay?!" Simon yelled.

All of a sudden, several Child Hunters grabbed him from behind. Simon tried to fight back, but the Hunters tied his hands behind his back and carried him away.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, "ERZA!"

From a few blocks down, Erza heard Simon's yell, "Simon?" She made her way to Simon's house. _What if he got captured? Is his house on fire? Is his little sister still in there?_ Erza asked herself with concern. She already lost her parents right in front of her, and she was not about to let any more lives end when she could've saved them.

Kagura still hid under her bed, scared for her life. It had been fifteen minutes, and Simon still didn't return. Fearing the worst, Kagura crawled out. As soon as she left the front door, explosive lacrima bombs blew up their home. Kagura started running aimlessly down the no longer recognizable dirt road. The screams, cries and dying groans scared her to no end. She stopped when she heard a Child Hunter order his troops, "Take the children! Kill all of the adults!"

Kagura looked around with little hope left. "Onii-chan? Where are you?" She called for Simon desperately.

Erza spotted Simon's house on fire. She took a quick tour to look for Simon's sister. _Am I too late? Was she captured? Did she die?_ Erza shook her head. _No. She's still alive. She has to be._ Erza sprinted down the road and spotted a lone little girl calling out to her big brother.

 _That's her._ Erza said to herself. _Now to get her out of here._ Erza ran and grabbed Kagura's hand.

Kagura felt a hand grab hers. She jumped in fear but noticed it was the redhead that Simon always brought home.

"They'll catch you if you just stand there!" Erza shouted as she started running with Kagura behind her.

"But, my Onii-chan…" Kagura tried to protest, but she knew the redhead was right.

Moments later, Erza spotted a small stack of empty bins. A couple of Child Hunters heard Kagura's protests. "I think I heard a child over there!" A Hunter yelled. Erza quickly helped the purple-haired girl into the bins.

"Hide here!" Erza whispered to Kagura.

"But what about you?" Kagura asked.

"Don't worry about me. I'll find another place to hide." Erza answered.

Just before she closed the bin, Erza said one word that Kagura would remember for a long time, "Live."

Kagura tried her best not to burst in tears. She was alone now. The redhead ran off, but Kagura heard a group of Child Hunters running after her. "I found a kid! Grab her before she runs away!" One yelled. Erza tried to run as quickly as she could, but she wasn't fast enough. The Child Hunters tackled her into the ground and took her away.

Kagura didn't know how long it had been since the redhead girl put her into the bin. She only knew to come out when all the screaming and shouting quieted down.

When she heard nothing but the flames of the burning village, Kagura crawled out of the bin. Other than her house, she only knew of one more place to go to: Anita's house. It was a few villages away, but her life was on the line, and she had to live. Live for Simon, live for her mother's legacy, and live for the redhead girl that saved her life.

Kagura started running west. Thanks to Simon's help, she knew the four cardinal directions, and which way they point. On the road ahead, two Child Hunters were wrapping up with patrolling the area for any survivors. They split up as one stayed on the road and the other went to report to their commanding officer that there were no more survivors. Kagura ran as quickly as she could, tears in her eyes and her breathing becoming labored.

The Child Hunter on the road sensed something approaching him. He turned around and noticed a little girl running towards him. Kagura stopped, fear spreading all over her body as the Hunter turned around and saw her. Kagura tried cutting through the houses, but the Child Hunter was too quick for her. He tackled her down.

"No! Stop it!" Kagura yelled. The Hunter smirked. He then stopped. He recognized the hair. The hazel eyes. It reminded him of… her. His smirk turned into a deadly glare. "I would have let you become a part of our new project, but you remind me of the woman responsible of halting our plans. We've got more than enough young sacrifices from this village. Now it's revenge!" The Child Hunter took out a shiv and pointed it at one of Kagura's "cursed" hazel eyes.

Kagura screamed for her life. "HELP! STOP! PLEASE!" Tears rolled down her cheeks, as she feared that her life was over. She failed. She failed Simon. She failed her mother. She failed the redhead girl. She won't live after all. The Hunter laughed as he brought the shiv closer to Kagura's eye.

"STOOOOOP IIIIIT!" Kagura screamed one final scream. Little did neither she nor the Child Hunter know that Kagura's hair and face glowed white. Suddenly, the shiv felt a lot lighter. The Hunter let go and the shiv floated high into the air. The Child Hunter also suddenly felt a lot heavier on his right side. Kagura didn't know what was going on, but she at least knew that this was her opportunity to run for her life. She sprinted as quickly as her little legs could go. The Child Hunter grunted as the mysterious gravitational force dragged him to a house on the other side of the road. As soon as the force deteriorated, the Hunter growled to find out that Kagura was long gone at that point.

 _We'll meet again. I don't care how long it takes. I don't care if you'll remember me, little girl. I will have my revenge._ The Child Hunter glared at the direction Kagura ran.

Meanwhile, Anita was putting a four year-old little girl to bed. The little girl wasn't biologically hers; she was rescued on a job she completed a few months ago after she discovered that those nasty thieves killed her parents.

"Goodnight, Araña," Anita whispered to the little girl as she closed her eyes.

It had been three years since Elena's death. Mermaid Heel practically hit rock bottom since then. Most of the members from the guild's prime were long gone. From Elena's original team, only Anita and Maria remained in the guild. Naomi moved to Blue Pegasus in an attempt to have a new beginning. Zeeta quit being a mage overall, blaming herself for letting Elena die. Anita stayed loyal throughout the years, hoping that someday, Mermaid Heel will reach a new Golden Age.

Kagura ran for about an hour. She was dead tired, but her heart told her to keep going. The redhead's quote repeated in her head. "Live." Her voice got louder and louder as she ran. She was almost there, at least.

As she reached Anita's home village, she ran to the eighth house to the right. She took a moment to catch her breath before knocking on Anita's door.

Anita was just climbing into her own bed until she heard light but quick knocks on her door. At this late an hour, Anita considered two circumstances: either the person knocking was a kid calling for help of some kind, or it was a smart robber pretending to be a kid. Anita was too tired to think, so she went to the door anyways. If it was a robber, she could beat him or her up without much effort.

She opened the door quickly only to discover a little girl with burn marks and bruises, looking like she was about to cry her eyes out.

"Can I help you?" Anita asked drowsily. She rubbed her eyes to take a better look at the kid at the front door. Her eyes widened. "Those… Those eyes... Those hazel eyes." She started breathing heavily before calming down.

"K… Kagura… What happened? Where's Simon? Are you hurt?" Anita asked with concern. Kagura didn't reply. She ran to Anita's arms and burst into tears. Her hair smelled like flames and soot. Anita feared the worst. No Simon, smells like fire, and scared for her life to the point where she fled the village and ran all the way to the Metal Mage's home. _The Child Hunters..._ Anita whispered. They attacked Rosemary, and they must've taken Simon. Kagura was the lone survivor. Anita froze. _Elena-sama... died in vain?_ Tears threatened to escaped Anita's eyes at the thought.

Like the rest of her team, Anita felt responsible for Elena's death, as valiant as it was. _Elena-sama, I know you don't blame me for your sacrifice, but I still feel responsible. I will take care of your daughter. It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me._ She promised Elena indirectly. She looked down at Kagura, who looked back up at her with tearful hazel eyes. She reminded Anita so much of her mother.

"Kagura, I will take you in to Mermaid Heel. We'll all protect you, and we'll help you in whatever way we can. I promise." Anita whispered to Kagura, tears escaping her own eyes.

There's that word again. Promise. Her mother failed to keep hers, and her older brother may not keep his. Kagura was starting to hate that word. She will make sure that those close to her would use that word with care. She'd make sure promises made to her would be kept from now on.

In the years x791 and x792, Kagura would find out the truth behind her loneliness and despair. This would cause her to try to change her personality, but it will be difficult. All it took was a certain redhead mage, the same redhead girl that saved her life all those years ago.

 **And that's the prologue. Why, you may ask, would a story mainly about Erza and Kagura start with the story of Kagura's mother? The reason is because she will have some indirect significance to the story as Kagura tries to change herself.**

 **Also, my OC name choice is random except for Elena, because Elena Mikazuchi just sounds right for some reason. May be just me..**

 **I don't know when the first chapter will be out, but it will be out eventually. Got a busy and fun summer ahead, so I may not have too much time on my hands, but I will try my best. Stay tuned for current events in Chapter 1.**


	2. Chapter 1: Eccedentesiast Kagura

**So here's Chapter 1. This will likely be edited in the future because I felt this chapter was rushed, but enjoy nonetheless!**

 **Fiore, One Month After Tartarus**

Erza Scarlet was waiting at the train station, deep in thought. It had been a month since Fairy Tail disbanded, and she didn't know for certain what she would do next. Who can blame her? Fairy Tail was her family, her escape from personal and physical hell. In fact, she was still in total disbelief that Master even decided to disband the guild.

Titania didn't even get to say goodbye to her old team. Natsu and Happy left together before even finding out that Fairy Tail disbanded. Gray and Juvia left soon after. Wendy and Charle joined Lamia Scale recently. Lucy was the only one left, and Erza believed it was rude to force the Celestial Mage to accompany her, since Lucy had her own motives and agendas. Erza wasn't sure if the guild would reunite and reform, and she wasn't sure if she would see anyone from her team again, but she would have to move on from this. She didn't seem to have a choice.

Erza spent the first two weeks since the disbandment in grief, confusion and lack of motivation. She had no place to go, and she had no idea what to do and where to go now that her home and guild were gone. The next two weeks were spent deciding her plans for her future. She should not be wallowing in grief forever.

She considered her options. First off, possible guilds. Erza would rather live life without strawberry cake than join guilds like Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus. Lamia Scale would be awkward, simply because Wendy joined the guild not long ago. She then considered Sabretooth. She could join to get along better with Minerva, and Sabretooth was a strong guild. She would make a good fit, but it didn't feel right. Because it was strong, it had no need for her.

That left two more guilds: Crime Sorcière and Mermaid Heel. Jellal would feel conflicted if Erza considered joining his guild. He was the type to keep her out of his trouble, out of his attempt at repentance. Joining his group would make their relationship complicated. He was snuffing out Zeref, slowly but surely, taking out dark guild after dark guild for possible clues. If she got hurt or even killed in front of him, Jellal would never forgive himself. He knew well that Erza was capable of attacking and defending herself, but Titania knew it best to stay out of his business, as much as she wanted to join him.

By crossing Crime Sorcière out, that left only Mermaid Heel. Erza knew Millianna would be delighted to see her. They could catch up on the seven years she was asleep at Tenrou Island.

What made Mermaid Heel so interesting for Titania was Kagura. Erza discovered at the Grand Magic Games that Kagura was driven to kill Jellal for taking Simon away from her, leaving Erza at crossroads. On the last day of the Games, she discovered that Kagura was Simon's little sister, and all the nightmares from the Tower of Heaven flooded back into her brain, despite the many times she tried to forget about it and move on. She told Kagura that she was to blame for Simon's death, simply because she was too weak to save him, causing Kagura to unsheathe her sword at her. Arguably that was one of the scariest moments of her life. Erza actually thought that she would die, but she remembered that Simon and Old Rob sacrificed their lives for her, causing her to successfully defend herself. Erza then recalled to the Mermaid ace that she also saved her when they were children, back when the Child Hunters invaded Rosemary Village.

Kagura therefore decided not to kill her, and before admitting defeat, Minerva stabbed Kagura in the back with her own sword, pissing Erza off to no end.

Then, during the battle against the dragons from the Eclipse Gate, Erza and Jellal confronted Millianna, who refused to forgive Jellal for enslaving her and killing Simon. Ultear suddenly appeared out of nowhere and announced that she was the one in charge of building the Tower and manipulating Jellal, therefore it was her fault for Simon's death. This confused Millianna, and it more or less let Jellal off the hook, at least for Millianna to an extent. If only Kagura was there. She was the one that needed to hear that conversation the most.

During the Grand Ball, Kagura announced to Erza that she wanted the Requip Mage to treat her as a younger sister. Erza knew that the Mermaid was slightly inebriated, but she accepted either way. She couldn't refuse someone so strong saying something so cute.

With that, Erza decided to pay a visit to Mermaid Heel. Catching up with Millianna and strengthening her relationship with Kagura were what drove her to make this decision. It was a grueling seven hour long train ride, but it would be worth it.

* * *

Erza slept for most of the train ride to Mercia Port. She exited the train, stretched, and made her way to Mermaid Heel's local restaurant. She had been there once before during the whole exchange program and the Kemokemo incident. She wondered if it was still in one piece after what happened during the exchange program.

When she made it to the restaurant, Erza decided that it was the perfect opportunity to grab a bite. She hadn't eaten since before she left for the train station.

After ordering, Erza sat at a nearby table, wondering what to do when she sees Millianna or Kagura. She wondered if either of them would be happy to see her. She wondered if they got over their anger at Jellal.

Erza spent so much time in deep thought that she didn't notice that her waitress arrived with her food.

"Here you go, Mi… ER-CHAN?!" The waitress yelled. Erza jumped at her waitress's actions. She then gasped at who exactly her waitress was.

"M… Millianna!" Before Erza could stand from her chair, Millianna quickly placed Erza's food on the table and tackled the Requip Mage into a rather tight hug.

"It's been a long time, Er-chan! I heard what happened to Fairy Tail and I got so worried!" Millianna exclaimed.

Erza returned the hug with equal enthusiasm. "I missed you too, Millianna. So how are things going?" She asked.

"Well, we have been training harder so we can take you on next year. But now that Fairy Tail disbanded, Master recommended Mermaid Heel back out of next year's Games," Millianna explained. "Also, last month, there were these weird face things that grew out of the ground. A lot of us panicked, but Kagura-chan took most of them out before they could activate."

Erza gasped silently, _The Faces…_ Millianna changed the subject, "So, Er-chan, what brings you to Mermaid Heel? Are you joining our guild?!"

"Hmm. I've been thinking about joining Mermaid Heel, but in case Fairy Tail gets back together, I decided just to become a frequent visitor. Call me an honorary member of Mermaid Heel." Erza replied as she took a bite out of her food.

"Yay!" Millianna cheered.

* * *

After eating her food, Millianna escorted (more like dragged) Erza to the Mermaid Heel guildhall. There, Erza discovered that the majority of its members were fans of her. Right as she entered, a large group of young women, spanning from the age of twelve to mid-twenties, ran up to her asking questions and asking for autographs. Erza was quite flattered, because she never had that much notoriety since before Tenrou.

After taking a few autographs and answering some questions, Millianna took Erza to the guild's visitor's suites.

"So how long do you plan on staying here, Er-chan?" Millianna asked.

"I'm not sure, but I know it'll be a while. I had nothing planned now that Fairy Tail is disbanded." Erza answered.

Erza and Millianna stopped by a nearby room and dropped Erza's bags.

"Is there anything else you need, Er-chan?" Millianna asked.

"Nothing else. Just one question." Erza said. Millianna turned back to the Requip Mage.

"Where's Kagura?" Erza asked.

"She went on a job last night. She should be back by tonight. According to Master, she took an easy local job." Millianna replied.

Erza nodded as the cat-loving girl left. The Requip Mage settled down for a while, taking in the information Millianna gave her and planning on what to do next now that she arrived to Mermaid Heel.

 _So Kagura's on a job and should be back tonight. I wonder what she thinks of me._ Erza thought. _At least Millianna was happy to see me. After finding out I've been hiding and protecting Jellal, I didn't know what she'd think of me. Kagura however…_

Erza sighed. The Gravity Change Mage was still a wild card for her. She didn't know whether Kagura would be happy to see her, and she didn't know if she was ready to forgive Jellal.

After a few hours of thinking, planning, and napping, Erza headed back down to the guildhall after hearing a lot of cheering and commotion going on. She found out that Kagura returned from her job. She was looking stoic and strong as ever, but Erza felt that there was something different about her. Ever since escaping the Tower of Heaven, Erza knew how to read people, mostly through their eyes. Ever since Jellal turned against his friends. Erza went down for a better look.

Kagura returned from an easy stress-relieving job. It was to simply escort a VIP to a private party, protecting him from an enemy guild. Nothing much happened except for a poorly planned attempt at an ambush that the Gravity Change Mage stopped without effort. The job went smoothly except for the VIP annoyingly trying to flirt with her, even though he had a fiancé right next to him.

When she entered the guildhall, many members of the guild came to her asking how the job went and what happened. Kagura wasn't in the mood to answer many questions, but she forced a smile to show that she was at least listening.

Unexpectedly, Erza walked up to Kagura, surprising the Mermaid ace greatly. She didn't expect Titania to be here. She wasn't surprised at why, however, since she like the rest of Fiore was still in shock that Fairy Tail, the strongest, closest, and most influential guild in the country, disbanded so suddenly.

"E…Erza? What are you doing here?" Kagura asked.

"Hey, Kagura. It's been a while. I'm here to visit for a while. Since Fairy Tail disbanded, I needed a place to stop by and catch up." Erza said, smiling.

"Ah. I see," Kagura replied, "I gotta report to Master that I came back and that the job was a success. Then we can talk." She smiled as she walked forward and to Master's office.

Erza's suspicions were confirmed. Kagura's smile seemed forced, as if she didn't want her or anyone else in the guild to worry about her personal troubles.

"Er-chan!" Millianna waved to Erza. "Come eat dinner with us!" Erza turned to the cat girl and saw that she was sitting with Araña, Risley, and Beth, who were all waiting for dinner.

"Ah. Titania. Pleasure to see you here!" Araña said.

"You were really powerful! I didn't know there was someone out there as powerful as Kagura-san." Beth exclaimed.

"Yeah, it seemed we all underestimated you, Titania." Risley said.

Erza smiled at all of their comments. "It's nice to see you all, too," She said.

Erza sat down and chatted with Millianna and her friends. A few minutes later, Kagura sat next to Millianna and ordered her share of food.

After the food arrived, the team continued chatting about different matters such as dating, jobs, and their plans in the next week. Erza noticed that Kagura was silent almost the entire time, frowning at her food and forcing a smile when somebody turned to her. Erza frowned. She didn't like to see her "little sister" acting this way, even though she hadn't known Kagura for that long. Later tonight, she will confront the Mermaid ace about this, and she'll think of a way to solve this. Maybe tomorrow she could even talk to Mermaid Heel's master over what's wrong with Kagura.

* * *

That night, when everybody had left the guildhall, Erza walked up to Kagura, who was locking up the hall. Apparently, Kagura also lived where the suites were, even though she was an actual member of the guild.

"Kagura…" Erza tried to get her attention.

Kagura turned around with a forced smile on her face. "What's wrong, Erza?" She asked.

"Why are you acting like this?" Erza asked back.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kagura said, widening her smile as if forcing a giggle.

Erza sighed. "Drop the act. I know you're feeling troubled," she snapped.

It was Kagura's turn to sigh. "You can see right through me, huh Erza," she said, her expression dropping to a frown.

"So tell me. What's the matter with you? Even when I visited during the exchange program, you were more enthusiastic than this," Erza said.

Kagura explained everything, "Ever since the Games, I've been processing everything I learned from you. From Jellal being manipulated when he killed Simon to you saving me back at Rosemary. I can't deny that I've been thinking about whether my life is worth living. Simon was the last person that mattered to me. Finding him was my drive. After Millianna told me he was killed, I lost my drive, my will to live. When she told me that Jellal killed him, my new drive in life was to kill him, to avenge my brother. I trained harder with a sword. I practiced harder with my Gravity Change Magic. All I wanted to do was to avenge Simon." She paused, taking a deep breath and looking at Erza without emotion, but she knew Erza could read her well. Erza could see it in her eyes. Under her expressionless face, she could see in Kagura's eyes that she was desperate, depressed, and regretful. Even though they didn't know each other that well, Erza's heart practically broke for her "sister."

Kagura continued. "I was there. During the dragon invasion, when Millianna confronted you and Jellal, I hid, because I couldn't bring myself up to seeing Jellal face-to-face. I heard everything. That woman, Ultear if I remember correctly, she placed the blame on herself. She said that she manipulated Jellal from the shadows, and that she had the Tower of Heaven built. After finding that out, it confused me just as much as it confused Millianna. But, what you said to Millianna hit home for me. 'Revenge doesn't solve anything.' That's when I realized that killing Jellal would be wrong. It's like prosecuting a child for what their parent told them to do. Everything I've done up to that point felt like a waste. It made me rethink my life choices. I wanted to change, but I no longer had any motivation. I had no more drive to keep living. I wasted the majority of my life running after promises I couldn't keep. Everything I've done is a waste. My life is a waste…" Kagura trailed off, gritting her teeth as she fought the tears that were threatening to come out.

Right there, Erza came closer to Kagura and slapped her hard on the cheek.

"Erza…" Kagura whispered in shock.

"Never…" Erza growled. "NEVER say your life is a waste." Erza turned Kagura to a glass window, seeing their reflections.

"Look at yourself! This isn't you! This isn't the Kagura I saved seventeen years ago! This isn't the Kagura that Simon wanted to see when he wanted to escape the Tower! We wanted you to enjoy your freedom while you had it. Simon would be heartbroken if he saw you like this. I AM heartbroken seeing you like this," Erza shouted, tears appearing in her eyes. Kagura stared at her in shock, taking in everything she was telling her.

Erza continued, "You're being too hard on yourself. You're dwelling on the negatives of your life without thinking of the positives. You say you don't have a family anymore, but look at your guild. They took you in, raised you, and protected you. They're your family now. You're the strongest mage in this guild, too. You've accomplished so much in so little time, but you've spent so much of your life dwelling on the past that you haven't been paying attention to the present."

She pulled Kagura into a hug as Kagura started to tear up.

"Kagura, as long as I'm here, I promise to help you, in whatever way I can. I'm your big sister now, and it pains me to see you like this. You and I both have issues and insecurities that we've tried to suppress and hide, but we have to ignore them, stay positive and move on. If you do that, you'll be so much happier. Trust me. I've felt like you before. I've isolated myself, I've tried hiding my insecurities from the rest of my guild, and I've struggled to find a new resolve in life. But I opened myself up to my friends, and my new family, and now, I couldn't be happier with my life. I won't leave from here until the same happens with you." Erza promised, tightening the hug.

She could hear and feel Kagura sobbing into her shoulder. _This… is the real Kagura. She was good at hiding her emotions before, but this is her exposing her sensitive side to me. This is how she's been feeling on the inside,_ Erza thought.

"Are you sure you can help me? I haven't told anyone in the guild the whole story. Not even Master and Millianna know everything that's happened to me! What if it's too late for me? I'm hopeless!" Kagura sobbed.

"In time, Kagura. But for now, I promise I will help you feel better, to feel confident enough to tell everyone the whole story," Erza said.

Promise. That word again. Kagura hated that word, simply because most of the promises made to her thus far were never kept. Erza's promise felt different, however. She decided to trust her to keep this promise, for now. Kagura tightened the hug on her end. "Thank you… Nee-san."

Erza was completely surprised when she heard this. Kagura actually called her "Nee-san." It sounded genuine and hopeful. Kagura was loosening up to her. Tears freely flowed down Erza's eyes as she slightly pulled back from the hug and smiled at her "little sister."

"We'll start tomorrow. We'll join the other girls on whatever they're planning. It'll be your first chance of opening up," Erza told Kagura as she let go of the hug, "Goodnight, Kagura."

As she walked away, she felt a hand grab her own. Erza turned around to see Kagura stopping her from leaving.

"Can I… Can I sleep with you tonight, Nee-san?" Kagura asked with a slight blush.

Misunderstanding the question, Erza blushed as deeply as her hair. "Uh… I… I don't swing that way, Kagura!"

It was Kagura's turn to blush deep red. "N-NO! I didn't mean that, Nee-san! I don't swing that way either! I meant sleep at your place! Sleep in the same b-b-bed as you! WAIT! Let me rephrase that!" Kagura yelled.

Erza stopped her. She now understood what Kagura meant. She simply wanted to sleep next to her, like a child sleeping between his or her parents. _Those books Levy let me have must've gotten to my head…_ Erza thought as she mentally face-palmed herself.

"Sure, Kagura. We are sisters after all," Erza said, smiling. Kagura nodded with a hopeful smile.

The two swordswomen walked to Erza's room, where they dressed up, or in Erza's case, requipped, into sleeping clothes and got ready for bed. Erza wore her usual pair of pajamas, while Kagura wore a relatively tight white tee shirt and short shorts.

When Erza got in bed, Kagura wrapped herself around her left arm. Kagura did so without thinking. Normally, she would be mortally embarrassed, but with Erza around, it felt normal, as if she really was her older sister. It seemed like Kagura simply wanted an older sibling figure, someone to tell her secrets to and cry about it without being embarrassed.

"Goodnight, Nee-san," Kagura whispered.

"Goodnight, Kagura," Erza whispered back.

Both Erza and Kagura slept quickly and comfortably. They didn't know what was going to happen in the following weeks or even months, but it will be an interesting adventure. Starting tomorrow, even if it isn't biological, they will both slowly become genuine and close sisters.

 **I don't blame anybody who senses the yuri vibes. Reading back, the yuri vibes were strong, and I did NOT AT ALL intend for that. In terms of ships, there will be very little Jerza moments towards the end, and there will be many ErKa jokes made by Kagura's team, but that's it. These yuri vibes make me feel like such a perverted guy.**

 **Also, I feel some explaining needs to take place here. First, Kagura's behavior. So, since the Games, we don't know much about Kagura's personality except that she was acting a bit awkwardly (blushy, embarrassed, shy) during the filler episodes. I referenced the Kemokemo mini-filler arc multiple times in this chapter. I wanted to make her behavior change as believable and as realistic as possible. I hope to God I didn't rush it. This chapter is just her exposing her sensitive side to Erza. The story is around her changing her personality to everyone. Not just Erza, not just Millianna, EVERYONE. If I did rush it, someone let me know, and I may edit the story to make it more believable.**

 **Next point, my personal issues. I'm not good at writing Erza's personality. I know she has heart, and she cares deeply for her friends, but that's about it. If you feel like Erza should behave differently, let me know. I want to improve my writing, to make it believable.**

 **Like I said, this chapter will likely be edited in the future. If it does, I'll let you guys know.**

 **I don't know how long it will take for Chapter 2, but I promise it'll be out eventually. There will be more funny moments to come. We're just going by some of the feels moments for now. Stay tuned for that!**


	3. Chapter 2: An Eventful Morning

**Here's Chapter 2. Like last chapter, I kinda rushed this chapter, and I may likely update it in the future, but for now, enjoy.**

Dawn rose as the sunshine hit Erza's face. At first, Erza thought she was waking up to a nice quiet morning, if it weren't for a certain cat girl screaming for her and Kagura to wake up.

"ER-CHAN! KAGURA-CHAN! RISE AND SHINE! WAKE UP! BREAKFAST IS WAITING!" Millianna screamed at the two "sisters".

Erza was about to sit up and stretch, but Kagura, who was still grasping her left arm like a teddy bear, pulled her arm closer. Erza forgot that Kagura was sleeping in the same bed as her, and she also forgot that she latched on the Requip Mage's arm for life.

With slight effort, Erza loosened Kagura's iron grip slightly enough to sit up and face Millianna.

"Good morning Millianna. Is this what you do every morning?" Erza asked.

"No. Sometimes, Risley-chan and Araña-chan do it. I get scared sometimes because Kagura-chan threatens me when I wake her up," Millianna explained with a shiver.

Araña and Risley enter the room behind Millianna.

"Good morning, Titania. How's the suite?" Araña asked.

"It was rather comfortable, actually," Erza answered. As she sat up to a more comfortable position, Kagura whined and pulled Erza's arm back to her chest.

Needless to say, Araña and Risley saw in awe at the team captain.

"Kagura slept with you? Wow, I haven't seen that look on her face before!" Araña said with a smirk, seeing Kagura's expression of vulnerability.

"Once again, I underestimated you, Titania. Who knew you were strong enough to make Kagura submit to you?" Risley said, holding back a giggle.

Erza blinked as Kagura's team started snickering. "What are you guys talking about?" She asked.

"Who knew Kagura and Titania had a thing for each other? And who knew Kagura swings that way?" Araña started laughing.

"I wonder how long it took Kagura to submit. Were you the man last night, Titania?" Risley joined Araña in laughing.

Millianna was lost, but had a rather embarrassed blush on her face, as if she was left out of the joke. "Er-chan, what are they talking about? What did you do with Kagura-chan last night?" She asked confusedly.

Erza, however, was blushing an even deeper shade of red than her hair. "WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING LAST NIGHT! WE JUST TALKED AND CAUGHT UP, NOTHING ELSE! I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!" Erza screamed, without caring that Kagura was still asleep.

"Sure!" Araña said teasingly, "I'll believe it if Kagura doesn't start limping out of bed, if you know what I mean!" She fell back to the wall, laughing even more loudly. Risley joined in, and Millianna was even more confused than before.

"I'm not gonna lie! These two use sword magic, they're tough, and they scare the living crap outta the rest of their guilds. They're perfect for each other!" Risley cackled.

"Looking at them, I don't swing that way, but they look cute together too!" Araña fell to the ground, laughing even harder.

Millianna finally got what their conversation meant. "Er-chan, is this true? Are you two an item?" At Erza's dismay, as if things didn't get any more awkward and worse, Millianna started laughing and cheering.

"Er-chan and Kagura-chan sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Millianna sang.

Erza slid back down on her back, wanting to go back to sleep and pretend that none of this happened. Because Araña and Risley were laughing so loud, Kagura slowly opened her eyes. Kagura looked around and saw Araña, Millianna, and Risley laughing and teasing her and Erza. At first, Kagura was confused on what her teammates were laughing at, but when she saw Erza and her position, she blushed a deep shade of red.

All of a sudden, Kagura used her Gravity Change to put the blankets over her head as she cuddled closer to Erza.

 _This…THIS DOESN'T HELP THE SITUATION, KAGURA!_ Erza screamed in her head.

Erza pushed the blanket back down, causing the three Mermaid Heel mages to see her and Kagura and the position they were in. All five of them blushed and everything went silent.

"It… it's not what it looks like…" Kagura whispered in extreme embarrassment, "Nee-san… What's going on?" She asked.

Araña, Millianna, and Risley gasped. Kagura… the ever stoic all-powerful Kagura… called Erza "Nee-san"… They all started screaming and cheering even louder.

"Kagura called Titania Nee-san!"

"THAT WAS SO CUTE!"

"They definitely swing that way!"

The morning was officially a disaster. Erza turned red in embarrassment and anger as she requipped her flame sword and threw it to the ground, right in front of the three Mermaids.

"ENOUGH!" Erza screamed as she threw the sword.

All three of Kagura's teammates stopped teasing and cuddled together in fear of Titania's wrath.

"Now listen, ALL OF YOU! Kagura just had trouble sleeping, and asked me to accompany her. We talked and caught up and THAT'S IT! NEITHER of us swings that way, and NOTHING happened. Do I make myself clear?" Erza explained.

"A-A-A-All clear, E-E-Erza…" Araña managed to answer, while Millianna and Risley nodded in agreement, all three still trembling with fear.

Kagura watched Erza, thoroughly impressed at her actions. _Erza… I didn't know you were so authoritative._ Kagura thought.

Erza nodded. "Good, now please get out so Kagura and I can get ready for breakfast," she ordered as the three mages ran out of the room hastily.

"I could've done that too, Erza, but thank you for defending us," Kagura told Erza.

"I know you could, Kagura. I guess I'm just playing the big sister already," Erza giggled.

Kagura smiled. "I'll repay you by defending us sometime soon, Erza. We can handle ourselves, can't we?" She said.

Erza nodded in agreement. "Let's just say it's going to be part of your "training." I know you're capable of handling yourself, Kagura. You're not Mermaid Heel's ace for nothing." She said back.

Kagura stood up, stretched, and headed for the bathroom to get ready, while Erza sat up on her bed.

 _You're strong Kagura, stronger than I can ever be. You know it, too. You just need to have more motivation and realize that you have friends and family that will always back you up and defend you. You don't have to face everything alone, Kagura. That's what we're all here for, to face everything together with. I'm here to help you realize this._ Erza said to Kagura from in her head.

She smiled. Aside from Master Makarov, Laxus, Jellal, and Natsu, Kagura was the strongest person she knew. With the right motivation and with a bright path of her future, Kagura had the potential to be unimaginably strong. Hell, she might become a Wizard Saint in the future. After the games, Jura stated that Erza, Laxus and Kagura all had the potential to become Wizard Saints in the near future.

Erza took it upon herself to help Kagura find a new resolve in life, and to motivate her to become strong enough to protect those she loves and cares about. Erza was excited to see the potential results.

* * *

After they got ready, Erza and Kagura headed to the guildhall, which was already bustling with guild members. Women were at the job table, eating, gossiping, drinking, and laughing all over the hall. Erza was impressed. Despite coming in fourth place at the Games, Mermaid Heel was still quite a popular guild, and with Fairy Tail gone, the activity might have doubled.

What surprised Erza was that there were actually a few men in the guild, and barely anyone cared, except for a few disgruntled women, who probably had a scathing hatred for men.

"I thought men weren't allowed in the guild," Erza stated.

"Men can't actually join the guild, but they can stop by and visit. This is so we abide by the Council's anti-sexism rule. The only men we don't tolerate are the total perverts and Blue Pegasus members, but they don't come by so often," Kagura explained.

Erza nodded in understanding. _I wonder if Shou and Wally come by to visit Millianna from time to time,_ she thought.

Kagura and Erza sat by the rest of Kagura's team. Millianna smiled and waved at the two, while Risley and Araña were still afraid of Erza after earlier. Erza and Kagura were relieved that nobody else seemed to know what happened earlier. They assumed that Araña and Risley didn't tell a soul about that morning's little misunderstanding.

Erza finished her food early and decided to go for a walk alone around the guild. Kagura was a bit disheartened that Erza was no longer by her side, but Kagura knew that she could take care of herself, so she let Erza check out the rest of the guild.

Erza stopped as she saw a view of the sea, the beach, the pier, and the guild's gardens. The view was absolutely astonishing. It was as if she was seeing through a postcard or a painting.

Suddenly, a hand landed on Erza's shoulder. "I see you're here to help Kagura-san find a new drive, Erza-san," a voice said. Erza jumped slightly to see a middle-aged woman with brown hair, aquamarine eyes, and quite a slim figure.

"You must be Mermaid Heel's master," Erza said, bowing to the master.

"Yes. I am Mermaid Heel's fourth master, Master Anita Arco," Anita introduced herself, bowing back at Erza.

"I've heard so much about you, Anita-sama," Erza said, smiling.

"Yes, and I've heard so much about you, Titania. Taking a look around the guild?" Anita asked.

Erza nodded as she turned back at the view.

"Then come along. I'm sure Kagura-san doesn't want to wait too long for you," Anita said as she started walking off. Erza glanced at Mermaid Heel's master. She looked at the view for a little longer before hastily catching up and following Anita.

Erza didn't realize how big Mermaid Heel's guild was compared to Fairy Tail's building. It turned out that along with the gardens, restaurant, and hotel, Mermaid Heel also owned a few swimming pools, a pier, a meadow, a magic academy, a spa resort, a ballroom and a museum.

Anita then opened a large metal gate, gesturing Erza to enter first. As Erza entered, she noticed she was at the guild's graveyard, filled with old members, family members, and the first two former guild masters. What intrigued Erza the most was the grave in the middle of the yard. It was a tomb with a large stone statue. The body representing the statue looked so much like…

"That statue looks so much like Kagura," Erza observed.

"Yeah, that grave is for Kagura-san's mother, Elena Mikazuchi. No question, she was Mermaid Heel's most powerful mage of all time, and Sorcerer's Weekly placed her as one of the strongest female mages in all of Fiore's history," Anita explained.

"Amazing… What magic did she use?" Erza asked.

"She used Elemental Gravity Magic. It is similar to Kagura-san's magic, but Elena had the ability to activate the multi-layer magic. She could raise or lower gravity at will, then set the entire space within the magic circle on fire or freeze it completely," Anita said, smiling at the nostalgia of all the jobs she used to go on with her former best friend.

"I wonder how she was like when she was alive," Erza wondered.

"She was the nicest, bravest, strongest, and most caring person I've ever known," Anita replied, "She always did what she felt was right, up until the end." Her expression fell into melancholy as she recalled Elena's death.

"Wait, you knew her when she was alive?" Erza asked.

Anita's expression rose again. "Not only that, but I was a part of her team. I was second in command, and she was my best friend," she stated proudly.

Erza smiled. "Must have been a blast back then. How'd she die?" Erza asked. Anita tensed up as she started breathing more heavily, greatly worrying Erza.

"I'm sorry, Anita-sama. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just curious," Erza apologized to the Mermaid guild master.

Once she calmed down, Anita spoke again, "No, it's okay. I know you were just curious, and I'll gladly answer. It's just that this memory was a memory that I don't want to remember."

Anita started, "It was a direct request from the Council. It was to stop a group of Child Hunters from advancing on their project of a paradise for Zeref." Erza tensed up, since she was a victim of the Child Hunters, and so was Simon… _Does that mean… They failed?_ Erza thought.

Before she could ask, Anita continued, "The rest of our team knew we couldn't do it without her, so they sent me to bring her back to the guild so we could accept the request. Elena-sama was temporarily retired at the time. She was on maternal leave, so to speak. She was busy caring for Simon and Kagura, who were really young back then. If I remember correctly, Simon was six, and Kagura was only two. Anyways, Elena-sama was hesitant at first because she wanted to care for her kids, but ultimately decided to join us. When we arrived at the village we were assigned to protect, we found out that the village was already destroyed. The children and the able were taken, and the rest were killed. We also found out that the village was booby trapped by the Child Hunters, who ambushed us. We put up a decent fight, especially Elena-sama and myself, but we were overpowered and taken prisoner." Anita stopped, tensing up as she was getting to her least favorite part of the memory. Erza felt bad that Master Anita had to remember such a bad and sad memory for her sake, but she said nothing.

After calming down, she continued her flashback, "Elena-sama was separated from us, but she escaped from their interrogation room. The Hunters used us as bargaining tools, threatening to kill us if she didn't surrender. We were all scared for our lives. We were crying, fearing that our lives were over and that we failed Elena-sama, but at the last second, Elena-sama saved us. She then gave us an escape plan by hijacking one of the Hunters' warships and freeing the prisoners. When we thought it was over, Elena-sama…" Anita hesitated as she started hyperventilating again, tears threatening to escape her eyes. Erza wrapped an arm around her and tried to calm her down.

"It's okay, Anita-sama. You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to," Erza assured, but Anita stood up.

"No, I'm going to finish this!" Anita shouted as she calmed herself down and took a deep breath.

She continued, "When we thought our job was finished, Elena-sama decided to blow up the Tower to make it so that the Child Hunters never went through with their plans ever again. She blew up the explosive lacrima barrels, therefore destroying the tower, and therefore losing her life…" Anita trailed off, tears escaping her eyes. She decided that it was useless fighting them, even after all this time.

Erza comforted her as much as she could. "I'm sorry. It must've been really hard for you," Erza said.

"Because of that, Mercia Port decided to have a statue built in her honor, and this statue was a result. Other than the statue, the only remnants of Elena-sama now are her hair ribbon and her famed sword, both of which Kagura-san currently possesses…" Anita paused as she looked down in grief.

"Elena-sama died a hero. She was the heart of the guild. When she died, the guild went into a depression like I've never seen before. Most of the members at the time even quit being mages because they no longer had the motivation. Elena-sama was Mermaid Heel's greatest hero, and since her passing, the guild's reputation practically hit rock bottom," Anita said.

Erza felt terrible. She recalled her decision to die as the Tower of Heaven was collapsing, and her vision of her funeral. She wondered if Fairy Tail would've reacted similarly if she died.

"Our team also suffered. Only three years after she died, two of the members, Naomi Hirashi, a Mythological Takeover Mage, and Zeeta Amira, an Astral Mage, left the guild, leaving me and another old guild member, Maria Eitana, as the only mages from Elena-sama's team that stayed in Mermaid Heel. We all still keep in touch from time to time, but not without the same amount of guilt we've had since our captain died," Anita stated, "The worst part about all this, is that the moment I found out Rosemary Village was attacked, I discovered that Elena-sama died in vain. She died trying to make sure that the Child Hunters never raided anymore villages, and that they would never try to build a Tower of Heaven again. It broke my heart to see a traumatized, hurt, weak, and crying Kagura knocking on my front door."

"That's awful… I can't imagine how much it would hurt my team and my guild if one of us died. Anyways, how about now? What are your hopes on Kagura?" Erza asked.

"Well, I won't deny that Maria and I sometimes tried to raise her into becoming another Elena. As you see, Kagura-san is a spitting image of Elena-sama. They have so much in common. The looks, the eyes, the motivation, almost everything was similar between the two. Elena-sama always believed that one day Simon and Kagura would surpass her in power. Seeing Kagura-san now, she definitely has the potential to surpass her mother by a whole thousand-fold. She just needs the motivation, the drive to be stronger in order to protect her guild, like her mother did until the end. That's why I'm glad that you're here, Erza-san. I heard what happened at Rosemary with you rescuing her. Since the Games, Kagura-san has been talking about you nonstop. She talks about how she has a debt to pay to you for saving her life, and about how much she admires you. You're really like an older sister to her, and it seems like you enjoy being the older sister figure for her. So as a private request from me, please help Kagura-san find a new resolve. It will benefit you, her, and the entire guild. When she has changed enough, I will reward her by making her the next guild master of Mermaid Heel," Anita told Erza.

Erza gasped. _So if I help Kagura find a new reason to move on, she will be Mermaid Heel's next master?_ She thought as she took in the information Anita gave her. This would boost Kagura's motivation even more, and she could only imagine how happy Kagura would be once she finds out about this.

"Master of Mermaid Heel?" Erza asked for assurance.

Anita smiled. "Yes. She's been ready for a long time. You see, I may not look it, but my health has started to deteriorate. That's why I haven't shown up at the Grand Magic Games to support my guild. I become easily fatigued and my breathing starts to lose pace at times. I wish to retire and to move the crown to the rightful successor. Kagura-san is and has always been the best choice, but her mentality has been troubling me. I was worried that given the position of guild master early, Kagura-san would use the guild's members as her personal little army to hunt down Simon's killer. She would become master for all the wrong reasons, and she would lose her humanity to misguided revenge that won't bring closure," Anita said with a frown.

"I understand, Anita-sama. I saved her seventeen years ago, and seeing her in such a vulnerable state while hiding her emotions… It pains me to see her like this. I promise, I will do whatever I can to help Kagura. I don't want her to fake her smile anymore. I won't leave until I see a genuine smile out of her," Erza declared.

Anita smiled, knowing that Erza sounded serious of her promise, and that she seemed like she was going to keep it.

"Let's head back. Kagura-san must be getting worried," Anita gestured. Erza nodded and followed her back to the Mermaid Heel guildhall.

* * *

Kagura was standing at the entrance to the guildhall. She was getting apprehensive that Erza hadn't returned from whatever she was doing. It had been over an hour, and the rest of Kagura's team was getting ready to go shopping together. Erza said last night that they were going to join in on the others' plans, but she wasn't there as she promised.

 _Erza, where are you? Are you breaking your promise already?_ Kagura thought as she started shaking. Erza was slowly breaking her trust. This was why Kagura hated promises. She would spend forever waiting only to find it broken by circumstance. Moments later, Kagura spotted Erza and Anita walking back to the guildhall together.

"Erza… Master…" Kagura gasped as she stood up and walked to them.

"I apologize, Kagura-san," Anita said, "I gave Erza-san a tour of the guild, and we were just having a conversation as we went."

Kagura nodded in understanding. Erza didn't try to break her promise at all. She was just looking around the guild with Master.

"Sorry, Kagura. Didn't expect the tour to be so long. Mermaid Heel is such a large guild compared to Fairy Tail," Erza apologized.

"It's alright, Erza. I didn't expect you and Master to talk together," Kagura said.

"I will leave you two to it, then. If there is any problem in any way, I'll be in my office," Anita said as she headed to her office.

Both Erza and Kagura bowed to Mermaid Heel's master as she went out of their sight. Millianna, Araña, Risley, and Beth walked up to the two "sisters".

"So you guys joining in or not?" Millianna asked.

"Yes, we are," Erza answered.

"Didn't expect Kagura to be joining us on a regular shopping run. With Titania here too, this might be out most interesting shopping run," Araña commented.

"Just be sure to not underestimate Kagura's fashion sense. She may dress in the same attire, but I could see her wearing crazier outfits than even Millianna," Risley warned, snickering. Millianna blushed with embarrassment at the Gravity Mage.

Kagura blushed slightly as her team started teasing her again, but her stoic expression returned. "Girls, listen up! Cut the chatter. I'm joining you guys in shopping because I want to change my personality. Along with Erza, I trust the four of you to help me along the way. Things may get weird and even violent, but I want you guys to keep your cool at all costs, and I will brood no objections. Am I clear?" Kagura announced.

"Yes ma'am!" Kagura's team saluted. Erza was impressed at Kagura. Master Anita was right. Kagura was born and raised to be a leader. It's in her blood. Elena was a former ace of Mermaid Heel, and Simon brought it upon himself to lead Erza and her team against a manipulated Jellal and his forces. Her voice was full of power and authority. It intimidated the Requip Mage in some ways. From the Games, Kagura hid her emotions in battle, a useful strategy, but Erza wanted Kagura to express her emotions outside of battle, but she didn't want to eliminate Kagura's stoic personality.

As the team started strolling off, Kagura glanced at Erza. She wondered if the Requip Mage wanted to get rid of her leader persona. It was the side of her that she was still proud of, despite her recent depression. Erza smiled at her to show that she was impressed and proud of the Mermaid ace for what she did, and that she didn't want to get rid of that side of her. No words needed to be said. Kagura nodded with a slight smile as the two swordswomen followed behind the others.

And the team was off for a little shopping run. Erza and Kagura were less excited for the spree than the other girls because they were never really the type to shop like teenage girls. However, the rest of the team believed that it would be a more interesting adventure with the two swordswomen coming along.

 **As you can see, I decided to bring some humor to the story. It's subject to change because I don't know if it dragged on for too long or I ended it too quickly.**

 **I was going to include the shopping spree in this chapter, but I decided against it, believing things would get funnier if I let the shopping be a standalone chapter.**

 **Also, I wanted to prove a point that even though I want Kagura's personality to change, I want her to keep her stoic leader personality. It's what got me into her to begin with, and it's what makes Kagura such an interesting character.**

 **I also switched things up by making Anita from the prologue the current Master of Mermaid Heel. Since it was only Mermaid Heel's master that didn't show up during the Games, I decided to go with it. If the master is revealed in the manga, then this story will be considered an AU, and I'm totally fine with that. I did say that Elena will play an indirectly significant role in the story. This chapter introduced that concept.**

 **Next chapter will feature an interesting shopping spree, lots of cake, and a certain group of thieves with huge bottoms.**

 **So stay tuned for next chapter! I want some reviews and constructive criticism so don't be afraid to leave any. I want to improve my writing because I believe it needs lots of improvement.**


	4. Chapter 3: Shopping and Cake

**Hello again, folks! I am sorry for taking so long in getting this chapter out. I had writer's block for about a week and I also had some impromptu vacations and hangouts with friends, but nevertheless, I got the chapter done. Enjoy!**

The walk to Mercia Port's shopping center was quiet, at least for Erza and Kagura. The two swordswomen kept glancing at each other, both of them wanting to start a casual conversation with each other. Araña glanced at the two with a teasing smirk on her face.

 _These two have such a crush on each other!_ Araña thought.

Kagura gained enough courage to speak to her "sister." She nudged Erza lightly on her right shoulder.

"Erza…" Kagura whispered.

"Yes, Kagura?" Erza asked.

"So, what happened to Fairy Tail that caused it to disband? I never imagined such a strong and close-knit guild to break up so suddenly," Kagura said.

"Well, it's a long story," Erza admitted.

"That's fine. I don't plan on buying a lot today, anyways," Kagura replied.

"Okay, well, I'm sure you've heard of the dark guild, Tartarus," Erza assumed.

"Ah. How could I not? They were the last remaining branch of the Balam Alliance, after Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart were defeated by your guild. If you guys fought with them and won, why'd you guys disband?" Kagura asked.

"They hit us harder than any of the other dark guilds we've faced. They destroyed our guild, harmed us physically, emotionally, and psychologically, and even though we won, we still felt defeated," Erza paused as she stared at Kagura, who had an expression of concern for the Requip Mage. Kagura couldn't help but feel bad for her "sister."

"Also," Erza continued, "All of the Balam Alliance took a striking blow to Fairy Tail. Oracion Seis made us feel weak. It opened our eyes to see a mere group of six taking on an alliance of four guilds with little effort. Grimoire Heart attacked our morality, and to top it off, Acnologia came and absolutely vaporized Tenrou Island, causing the core guild members including myself to fall into a seven year-long sleep state, hence the reason I am technically younger than you. Because of that, the rest of Fairy Tail suffered humiliation and ridicule over the seven years we've been gone. Tartarus dealt the most damage because they brought back horrible memories of our past, and it gave us all a sense of total hopelessness. It came to the point that Master decided to disband Fairy Tail, because we felt weak and useless, and because everyone learned dark things about each other, things we've tried to keep secret for so long. Personally, Tartarus broke me. Tortured by Kyouka, forcibly reminded of the trauma I faced at the Tower of Heaven, and feeling unimaginable pain that I've wanted to forget for so long. I can't deny that I've thought about dying for a moment or two. And yet, Jellal told me to move on, and I decided to do so. I want to become stronger, to protect my friends that I hold so dear, and to show that the past no longer affects me, to show that I look forward to my future."

Kagura gasped when Erza mentioned Acnologia. She only heard small tales of the legendary dragon slayer turned dragon. She couldn't help but feel slight fear after hearing that story.

After Erza talked about her experiences against Grimoire Heart and Tartarus, she felt terrible for her "sister." Despite being chronologically three years younger than the Requip Mage, Kagura was physically four years older than Erza. It complicated the whole "little sister" concept between the two swordswomen. Yet, Kagura still looked up to Erza as an older sister. Erza was more trustworthy, had more experience and wisdom, and had a lot more magical power and skill than she did, and she was still responsible for saving the Mermaid ace's life so long ago. Yet, she wasted the freedom that was granted to her. All the suffering Erza went through was in vain. All the nightmares she must have gone through, all the physical, mental, and emotional damage she went through, and all of the recovery she had to go through was Kagura's fault. All of Erza's suffering… was because of her.

Erza paused and glanced at Kagura, who seemed to be taking in the fact that she was in a sleeping state for seven years. The Gravity Change Mage's expression suddenly turned into vulnerability.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. You can still view me as an older sister, if you wish," Erza said, smiling.

Though it did relieve her a little bit, Kagura kept the troubled look on her face.

"Thank you, but it isn't that, Nee-san. It's just that… I don't deserve to be compared to you. With everything you've done, and with everything you've been through, your strength is incomparable. I want to understand how you do it. You've been betrayed, injured, enslaved, and humiliated, yet you moved on. You got stronger. You even started to trust some of those that hurt you. And here I am. I wasted seven years going after a man I believed killed my brother. I wasted the freedom that you've given me. All of your suffering was in vain. I want to be like you, in more ways than one. But now I realize, I can never be like you. You've suffered so much, but you stay strong. I didn't suffer as much compared to you, and no matter how strong I try to be, I still feel weak. If I had let you hide with me back in Rosemary… you wouldn't have suffered in the Tower… and none of this would have happened to you. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have suffered so much. I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Kagura stopped walking as her breaths became exasperated, as if she was at her limit trying not to cry. Erza gasped and stopped walking as well. The others continued as they walked through the shopping center's entrance gates.

That's when Erza realized another problem with Kagura. Despite her stoic personality and her determination to overcome her past and her troubles, Kagura had a profound inferiority complex and a serious guilt complex. She constantly compared herself to the Requip Mage, and she felt like her freedom was wasted, hence Erza's troubles in the Tower were a waste. It likely came with her belief that her life was a waste.

 _Kagura… you feel weak when compared to me? You think everything I went through was your fault?_ Erza thought.

Erza's heart broke once again. She didn't know just how broken this woman was on the inside. Until now, Erza believed that by saving Kagura, she saved her from pure living hell, only to find out that Kagura fell into a hell of her own. She slowly walked up to the Mermaid ace and brought her into a tight hug. It was a slight feeling of déjà vu from last night, but it was as necessary now as it was then.

With Kagura not looking, Erza subconsciously felt her fake eye, as she remembered her suffering in the Tower. _No. I can't let her know about this. It'll only worsen her guilt._ Erza thought as her arm returned around Kagura.

"None of this was your fault, Kagura. My suffering wasn't your doing, and none of it was a waste. I'm here now, happy and free, and I want to help you become stronger. I want to help you overcome your troubles. You're right. You're not like me, and you can't be like me, but you can be YOU. YOU have your own choices and experiences. Don't try to become someone you're not. Like I said last night, you're being too hard on yourself. You're not weak, Kagura. You're strong. Very strong. You dealt with everything yourself. You handled yourself better than most would at such a young age. I believe that with enough motivation, you will far surpass me in strength. I want you to move on from the past, and to embrace your future, a brighter future, a happier future. I know you can do it. I believe in you. I always did, even back when I first saved you," Erza said, tightening the hug.

Kagura sighed silently in comfort, relief, and, deep down, happiness. Tears escaped her eyes, but it started feeling more normal with Erza around. Who knew that a simple visit from Erza would expose so much of her that even she was unaware of? It was likely due to their interactions back in Rosemary, or their mutual connections to Simon. Erza was just as close to Simon as Kagura was, and she was just as stricken by grief of his death as she was. Because of how relatable Erza was to Kagura's issues, every word she said hit home for the Gravity Change Mage.

When Erza said that she was strong, and can potentially be far stronger than the Requip Mage, Kagura was skeptical at first. But Erza said she believed in her. Erza believed in her. She always did. With that in mind, Kagura started feeling motivated and confident.

Kagura felt relieved that Erza didn't blame her, and she was glad that she was there to help. But most of all, Kagura cherished Erza as an older 'sister' even more than ever before. She had never been so genuinely warm inside in a while. A lot of weight was lifted from her shoulders. Things were beginning to look up.

Kagura wiped away her tears and tightened their embrace. "Thank you… so much, Nee-san. You're right. Ever since you saved me, I've felt nothing but sadness, guilt and self-pity, and I kept it all bottled up inside me so people don't worry about me. I want to change. I want to be happier. I want to be stronger. For you, for Mermaid Heel, and for Simon." She smiled with hope filling her heart.

Erza smiled back. At one point in the past, Erza had to hear those words herself. Kagura was starting to actually smile now. It's only been a day and Kagura's already making progress. It won't be long until she's content and proud of her life, until she's determined and looking to the future.

Erza decided to continue their conversation. "Anyways, do you still hate Jellal?" She asked.

Kagura tensed up at the sound of his name. She took a few deep breaths. "No. I don't hate him," she answered. Erza smiled with relief.

Kagura continued, "But I can't say I like him, either. Manipulated or not, Simon's death was still by Jellal's hand." Erza's expression turned to a frown.

"I see. I was hoping that…" Kagura suddenly interrupted Erza. "However… I no longer desire revenge. I don't know if I'll ever forgive him, but at least know that I don't want to kill him anymore." Erza sighed with relief.

"But…" Kagura continued.

"Huh?" Erza gasped.

"I'm still scared of confronting Jellal face to face. I'm afraid that I'll revert back to my former self, the vengeful emotionless killer I now fear. I'm afraid that all your work in helping me change will come to naught," Kagura whispered, shaking.

"So please…" Kagura begged as she grabbed both of Erza's shoulders, "PLEASE… be there with me when I finally confront Jellal. Even though I've resolved my revenge on him, due to seven years of hunting him down, I will likely lose my composure when I see him. I might do something I would regret, or worse, I may end up losing my life. With that said, I want you to be there to keep me in line. I trust you more than I trust myself."

Erza knew that Kagura had a point. There's no telling how she would react when she meets Jellal for the first time. Though she assured to the Requip Mage that she was over her revenge, Kagura can still be subject to fall back to her old anger. However, there's no guarantee that she'd be there when Jellal and the Gravity Change Mage meet in person for the first time. If the three do wind up meeting each other, it won't be a warm introduction among friends, and the situation may not look so bright. It might be in the middle of a war between them and Zeref's followers, or a world-ending catastrophe that Fiore got sucked into. There are too many different scenarios in which Erza might not be there the moment Jellal and Kagura see each other.

Last night, Erza sensed slight uneasiness in Kagura when she promised that she'd stay until Kagura's personality was changed, as if Kagura had trust issues regarding promises. There's no point making a promise that might be broken by circumstance. Erza glanced at the Gravity Change Mage. Kagura looked at her with fearful eyes. She was serious when she said that she was scared of her former self, and she was serious when she said she wanted to change.

"I don't know if I can be there, but I'll try my best, Kagura. I know this is a serious issue for you, but this is something you must do yourself. I cannot guarantee myself being there when you do confront Jellal, and I don't want to make promises I probably won't be able to keep," Erza warned.

Kagura nodded in understanding. Erza was right. There are many circumstances that may hinder the Requip Mage from being there. It's like Erza sensed Kagura's hidden hatred of promises. She looked back at Erza, who was now smiling.

"Now come on," Erza said, gesturing Kagura to the shopping center's front gates, "let's go shopping to get our minds off the matter." Kagura nodded as the two swordswomen walked through the gates.

Millianna was waiting outside a dress shop that Beth, Araña and Risley were shopping at. She turned to see Erza and Kagura sauntering up to her. Millianna quickly stood up and ran to the two swordswomen.

"There you two are! What happened?" Millianna asked.

"Just a conversation. A long one," Erza answered.

"Another one? You two must really love catching up!" Millianna said innocently.

Kagura was staring at the store the three were in front of. "Mercia Swimwear." Kagura was nervous at first. Until now, she would always wear excessive clothing, showing no skin except for her head. This was due to self-consciousness of her body. Believe it or not, Kagura was what many would call a "late bloomer." Looking young, petite and delicate for most of her life was a living hell for her, especially since she was in an all-woman's guild. Along with her insecurity, she hid her skin because she hated being compared to her mother. Kagura believed that she didn't deserve to be compared to someone so powerful, caring and, most of all, happy. Since desiring revenge on Jellal, Kagura believed she didn't deserve to be compared, even though she was a spitting image of her mother.

But Kagura remained composed. _I must do this, no matter how embarrassing it will be. Erza believes in me, and now I must believe in myself._ Kagura thought.

If one didn't know any better, most would laugh at the fact it took Kagura, the revered ace of Mermaid Heel, courage to step into a simple swimsuit store. It felt like a Class S job for Kagura for some odd reason.

Erza and Millianna gestured the Mermaid ace to enter the store with them. Kagura nodded as she followed the other two in.

As they entered, they noticed swimsuits of different varieties and designs throughout the entranceway. Erza gasped in surprise at the size of the store. Kagura kept walking along with Millianna. Erza snapped out of her brief trance and quickly caught up to the other two.

"Millianna and I decided that we would help you choose swimsuits to buy. Then after we've all got new swimwear, tomorrow we'll go to the beach and show them off! Isn't that exciting?" Erza exclaimed.

And there goes Kagura's courage. Kagura stared off into space at the potential humiliation she may face at the beach. Erza didn't sense excitement from her "little sister," so she started getting concerned.

"What's wrong, Kagura? You don't like swimsuits?" Erza asked.

"Kagura-chan rarely wears swimsuits, and she rarely ever goes to the beach," Millianna clarified.

Erza frowned. Kagura should be more confident than that. Someone as powerful and stoic as her scared of showing some skin… That isn't natural. Erza placed a hand on Kagura's shoulder.

"It'll be fun," Erza assured, "Trust me. Millianna and I will help you."

Kagura stared at her "big sister." She was insecure of exposing much of her skin, but she recalled that seven years ago, Erza used to wear armor wherever she went. Now, she was wearing a regular blouse and skirt. If Erza could get over her insecurities, then Kagura was confident that she could as well. She nodded at the Requip Mage, who smiled back. Millianna gestured them to a random isle of swimwear.

Kagura blushed at all of the swimsuits. As much as she wanted to change, she hated wearing swimsuits, and she just could not see herself in any of them. It simply felt awkward for her.

Millianna grabbed a couple swimsuits that had cats imprinted like tiles on the pieces of clothing, not surprisingly coming from a cat girl.

Erza grabbed a plain swimsuit that was the color of her hair. Simple, practical, and fitting, just the way the scarlet haired mage liked it. She then looked around for a potential swimsuit for Kagura. The isle had so much variety that it was hard to keep track of all the varying styles, colors, and patterns. Kagura just looked around, staring at the suits closest to her. She wasn't nearly as quick at looking around as Erza and Millianna, since she was trying and failing to picture herself in any of them.

Erza's eyes stopped at one of the swimsuits. It was an elegant white with gold linings and it somehow matched Kagura's blazer. She then decided to get a backup swimsuit in case Kagura didn't enjoy it, so she picked a black swimsuit with blue linings and similar format.* Erza held both in front of her and showed them to Kagura.

"Kagura, try these. They seem to match you," Erza called.

Kagura stared at the swimsuits. They were very revealing even for swimsuits, but it was too late to back down now. Kagura's impending embarrassment was taken over by her determination to change. _Erza believes in me. I refuse to let her down,_ Kagura whispered to herself. It was sort of embarrassing in itself that she had to push herself to do something most women were comfortable doing on a weekly basis. But Kagura wanted a new drive, and she was willing to do almost anything in order to change herself. She didn't want to revert back into the heartless machine bent on vendetta that she used to be.

Erza escorted (more like pushed) Kagura into the dressing room, while she and Millianna moved to another aisle searching for swimsuits for themselves. Kagura dressed into the white and gold swimsuit first. She looked into the mirror in the dressing room. She had to admit that she didn't look bad in the swimsuit. She wanted to show Erza and Millianna, but she didn't know where they were, and it was common sense that she shouldn't walk around in the swimsuit in public looking for them. She decided to wait for her "big sister" as she pictured tomorrow's beach day. She was anxious and slightly embarrassed, but it didn't seem as scary or bad as it was for her at first.

A few minutes passed and Erza and Millianna both entered the dressing room with swimsuits of their own. They knocked on Kagura's door. As the other two mages walked in, they spotted Kagura, still in the swimsuit sitting on the bench staring at herself on the mirror.

Erza's eyes widened. "You look stunning, Kagura! You shouldn't be embarrassed of yourself. You have a blessed body! You should show it off more often!" Erza praised.

"Yeah, Kagura-chan! You look great! You'll make so many noses bleed tomorrow!" Millianna chimed in.

Kagura blushed since she wasn't used to people complimenting her about her body. Nevertheless, she felt warm inside.

"Th-Thanks, guys," Kagura replied, clearly flattered at their words.

Erza noticed that she didn't put on the other swimsuit. "Now to try this one, Kagura." She held up the blue and black swimsuit.

Kagura was content enough with the swimsuit she was wearing. Therefore, she was no longer in the mood to try out the other one.

"It's fine, Erza. I actually like this swimsuit," Kagura declined as kindly as she could.

Kagura didn't know just how stubborn the Requip Mage could be. "Nonsense, Kagura! This might look great on you, too! We can buy both," Erza assured.

"No, really, it's okay Erza. I don't feel like trying the other one on!" Kagura argued. Erza then reached for her bikini and tried untying the straps. Kagura blushed madly. This wasn't part of the plan.

"Oh, come now, Kagura! Don't be like this! I'm your big sister! Let me help!" Erza grunted. She was trying to put the black bikini top on while Kagura was desperately clutching her breasts in embarrassment. Millianna didn't know what to do, so she decided to try her own swimsuits.

Erza and Kagura continued struggling with each other. It went on for a solid five minutes. Erza was trying to put the blue and black bikini on Kagura while Kagura was trying to break Erza's iron grip and put her regular clothes back on. The struggle was causing their bodies to be a bit too close for comfort. Millianna started laughing at the two because they had been at it for a while.

As if things weren't already awkward with the two swordswomen, the rest of Kagura's team came into the dressing room to try out their swimsuits.

Hearing the yelling, Araña asked, "What's going on in that room?!"

Opening the door, they spotted pure gossip gold. They saw Millianna laughing loudly while Erza and Kagura were fighting half-naked over swimsuits. Araña and Risley stared at each other with huge blushes on their faces while Beth was confused on what was going on.

Millianna stopped laughing as she realized that the others arrived in the dressing room. Suddenly, absolutely everything went dead silent. The two swordswomen stopped struggling as they stared at the other three Mermaid Heel mages staring back in equal shock at the scenario. Erza and Kagura's position didn't help their situation whatsoever. Erza had Kagura pinned down with one hand and the blue and black bikini bottom in her other, while Kagura was laying on her back topless with only her skirt and stockings on. She was holding her blazer and the white and gold swimsuit, as if she was trying to change back to her normal clothes.

What was left of Kagura's sanity was obliterated at that moment, and all of a sudden her physical strength inhumanely overpowered Erza's. She quickly put on all of her regular clothes while Erza stared at the ground flustered at the position she and Kagura were caught in.

After she had all of her clothes back on, Kagura laid facedown on the bench in a similar state of humiliation as Erza.

Araña and Risley simply continued staring at the swordswomen. They didn't know what happened, but it happened. As far as they knew, their mock-ship had just seen land, a land that was commonly named "third base."

Araña was the first to speak, "You two… are shameless… I always knew you two were kinky and had a thing for danger, but good God… in public!"

"We… didn't do anything…" Kagura whispered, anime tears escaping her eyes.

"All we did was try on swimsuits... Neither of us swings that way," Erza muttered, still staring at the ground in embarrassment and shame.

Risley pushed Araña and Beth out of the dressing room. "Well, let's not bother our two… lovers… We'll leave you guys to do your… stuff," she winked.

Right before they left, Beth asked, "What happened in there? What were they doing?" Following the question was Araña's squealing and Risley's cackling.

Out of nowhere, the wooden bench cracked. Everyone gasped as Kagura looked up, rage filling her eyes.

"We didn't do anything…" she growled, "I'm sick and tired of my own team assuming that Erza-san and I are an item. Here I am trying to change my life, and I need all the help I can get! Risley, Araña, you guys aren't keeping your end of the bargain, and it is you two that torment me without explanation and invade upon the privacies of Erza and myself. The two of you are going to answer to your wrongdoings after this. Prepare yourselves… Because in our next training session, I will not hold back, and I will have Titania here to help me do so. Do I make myself clear?!"

Risley and Araña froze with absolute fear. Kagura and Titania? As one team? The two of them together would mean the funerals of anyone who dared to challenge them. Millianna and Beth, who weren't called out by their team leader, also felt chills crawling up their spines. Kagura used to be more formal, well mannered, and levelheaded than this. Never had any of them seen her so angry since the Games.

Erza, still slightly blushing in embarrassment, stared at Kagura, impressed as well as a bit intimidated at the Mermaid ace's rant. She really did impress the Requip Mage with her strictness and leadership. She was also impressed at how quickly Kagura can go from humiliated to angry to calm with no noticeable transition. It reminded her of… well… herself when she was Fairy Tail's 'babysitter'.

As Araña, Risley, Beth, and Millianna all left the dressing room in a rush out of sheer fear of their captain's wrath, Kagura glanced at Erza.

"I told you I'd pay you back for covering for me this morning," Kagura smirked.

"I wasn't THAT threatening, though," Erza replied. She stood up. "Who knew my 'little sis' could be that threatening over an issue as little as this? I'm starting to question why I'm even changing your personality. You can hold your own better than I could. You're such a strong leader, you're very strict yet passive, you're very levelheaded and calm. You were definitely a born leader, and I can't see how I want to change that," she said.

Kagura stared at her swimsuit before looking at Erza. "As proud as I am at my leadership capabilities, I don't want it to take over me. People will begin to fear me instead of respect me. If I want respect, I need to be firm but fair, and I need to show everyone that I'm human too. Like I said on our way here, it is the one trait I actually am proud of, and it seems like you don't want to change that aspect of me. I simply want to be more emotional. I want to be scared, I want to laugh and cry with my guild. I just want to move on," Kagura explained.

Erza nodded, understanding what the Mermaid ace was getting at. She didn't want to change her leader personality after all. She simply wanted to wipe her hands clean of her 'curse'. She wanted to get over her revenge, and therefore become more human, and more of a woman.

Erza placed a hand on Kagura's shoulder. "Yes. I don't want to change your stoic side. I just want you to loosen up, and I'll make sure your whole guild helps you do so," she promised, smiling.

Kagura lightly smiled back. She was getting used to smiling with Erza around, but she was still a little bit self-conscious about what others would think about her changes, and her smile, a smile that nobody in the guild ever really saw often at all.

The two swordswomen quietly exited the dressing room and bought their respective swimwear to show off at the beach tomorrow. As they exited the store, they found out that the rest of Kagura's team continued shopping without them. Erza's stomach then growled.

"Ugh… I'm starving. I haven't eaten since before your master gave me a tour of the guild, and that tour took a lot out of me," Erza complained.

Kagura held her stomach. Although she wasn't at the same level of hunger as Erza, she was starting to get hungry as well.

"There's a cake shop close by, if you want to grab a bite there," Kagura suggested.

Erza froze as soon as the words 'cake shop' were heard. _Does that mean there's…_ Erza thought as she started drooling a bit. Without a moment to spare, Erza grabbed Kagura's hand and started sprinting.

"WHERE? WHERE IS IT?" Erza shouted, scaring the purple-haired mage at the sudden change in behavior.

"Uh… It's to the left all the way down! Slow down, Nee-san! We're making a scene!" Kagura protested, but her words fell on deaf ears as she was dragged to the local cake shop.

Meanwhile, trouble was afoot. On a high wall overlooking the shopping center and bordering one of Mermaid Heel's gardens were three abnormally large sets of buttocks resting atop the wall.

A raspy dastardly voice was heard behind the wall, "This town isn't prepared for the sheer power of our true evil!"

"I can't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when they see what you've got cooked up, Brother!" Another voice exclaimed.

"I wonder what kinds of expensive things this town has," a third deep voice said.

"Shut your pipes, lackeys! We must not be caught. There are too many innocent bystanders. We are not truly evil if we aren't sneaky!" The raspy voice warned.

"Sorry, Big Brother," the other two voices apologized.

"We will wait until something happens, and when everyone least expects it, we, the truly evil Jiggle Butt Gang, will strike! Then we steal all the gold and silver this town possesses. We will become feared by many who hear our name!" The Jiggle Butt Gang leader proclaimed. The two lackeys cheered at their big brother's inspiring speech.

The two swordswomen arrived at the local cake shop. Stars gleamed in Erza's eyes while Kagura looked around, starting to feel suspicious. She felt like something was going to happen soon. She was uneasy, and, for some reason, disgusted.

Erza giddied like a little schoolgirl, "Goodness… they have a Deluxe Strawberry Cheesecake Supreme Special! This place is pure heaven! You have to try this, Kagura!"

"No thanks, Nee-san. I'm more of a chocolate type of person…" Kagura kindly declined, blushing slightly since she never admitted to anyone before that she loved chocolate desserts.

Stubborn Erza returned. "Come on, Kagura. Try it! I KNOW you'll love it," she pouted, stars still gleaming in her eyes.

 _Your eyes contradict your expressions, Nee-san…_ Kagura sweatdropped.

The Mermaid ace sighed, knowing now that Erza would refuse to let her back down. "Fine… I'll try a slice," Kagura told Erza.

"You will not regret this decision. I will make sure that you savor your first bite into edible euphoria," Erza dramatically announced, the stars in her eyes gleaming brighter than before. Kagura bowed her head in embarrassment and confusion at her 'big sister'.

Erza ordered three large slices of the Deluxe Strawberry Cheesecake Supreme Special: one for her, one for Kagura, and another for her to down later. They grabbed their orders and found a table right outside the shop. As tempted as she was to devour her slice, Erza wanted to watch Kagura take her first bite. Kagura hesitated for a moment. She wasn't used to being watched while eating.

Kagura quickly picked a rather large chunk of cake with her fork and placed it into her mouth. Instantly, Kagura's expression changed. She immediately regretted ever doubting the taste of such a dish. Her eyes twinkled and her taste buds tingled at the perfect moisture omitted by the cake. Her heart started pounding and small yet noticeable tears rolled down her eyes. To the common person, this was an awkward and funny view to see a woman cry tears of joy at a cake, but to Kagura, this was love at first bite.

 _This cake… is the single greatest dessert I have ever been blessed to bite since double dipped chocolate._ Kagura thought.

Erza smiled at the Mermaid ace's expressions. _Yes… Another woman has been blessed by heaven's dessert._ Erza thought.

"So how was it?" Erza asked just to be certain about Kagura's reaction.

"This… is one of the most delicious cakes I've ever had!" Kagura exclaimed as hearts appeared in her eyes.

With that said, both Erza and Kagura downed their cakes in seconds flat. Erza decided to take out her other slice of the strawberry cheesecake. The other slice didn't last long at all. As soon as she took it out, Kagura eyed it with want and desire. All logic exited her usually stoic and strategic head. Now, it's time for dessert.

Right when Erza placed her second slice on her plate, Kagura placed her hand on the other side of the plate.

"Kagura, what are you doing?" Erza asked.

"I'm having the second slice of cake," Kagura requested.

"But this is for me. Remember? I bought two for myself," Erza argued.

"But it's my first time here, and I want more of this delicious cake. This cake is mine," Kagura demanded as she pushed the plate towards herself.

"No. I paid for this slice! This is MY cake!" Erza shouted as she stood up and thrust the plate back to herself.

Kagura growled. "I guess this is war…" she whispered angrily as she grabbed Archenemy.

"You want to fight for this cake? You got a fight," Erza growled back as she requipped into her Purgatory armor.

Both women's swords collided, causing a large wave of power to obliterate everything and everyone around them, destroying the slice of cake in the process.

Erza and Kagura went at it for a half hour. The battle was a total stalemate. Erza had her Demon Blade Crimson Sakura out while Kagura had her now unsheathed Archenemy. Almost the entire perimeter of the cake shop was destroyed and the people were too scared to go near the two swordswomen. To some, it was like a reenactment of their battle during the Grand Magic Games.

Both Erza and Kagura were too fatigued to continue fighting, so they dropped their swords and fell to their knees, catching their breaths. Suddenly, logic came flooding back at them.

Erza glanced at Kagura. "Kagura… I'm sorry. I got so hungry by the cake that I didn't realize that we could've split the cake," Erza apologized.

"I'm sorry too, Nee-san. I could've just bought a slice of my own. The cake got the best of my logic that I couldn't think straight," Kagura replied.

The two swordswomen hugged, crying anime tears. Bystanders, as touched as they were about the make-up, sweatdropped because the two strong and powerful women were literally crying over spilt cake.

The cake shop owner walked up to the two hugging swordswomen. They both looked up when they saw his shadow.

"I'm very sorry to break up this… warm moment, but someone has got to pay for the damages of my shop," the cake shop owner said.

Erza and Kagura looked up to see the damages they caused. Both of them bowed their heads down in shame and embarrassment.

"We're sorry for the trouble we caused, sir!" They both shouted.

"Now, now. I know both of your reputations as insanely powerful mages, and I know you'll help me get this place fixed in time. But for right now, I'm going to have to ask the two of you to leave the premises," the cake shop owner announced formally.

Erza gestured Kagura to walk off with her. Kagura nodded as the two left the scene. People still cheered for the two as they left, because they unofficially got to witness a reenactment of their fight in the last Games.

Little did any of them know, the Jiggle Butt Gang noticed the spectacle of the two swordswomen's heated war on cake.

"Alright! There's the distraction we needed!" The leader cheered.

"Big Brother is such a genius! He predicted that something would happen today!" The two lackeys praised.

"Now, it's time for Operation: Steal Everything From This Town to commence! This town will learn of our truly evil ways!" The leader announced.

"Yes, Big Brother!" The lackeys obeyed. They hopped over the wall and 'sneakily' searched for a jewelry store.

Millianna was with Araña, Risley, and Beth as they looked for another store to look around in. The cat girl then saw Erza and Kagura, both of whom were bruised, battered, and covered in cake and dirt.

"There you two are! What happened to you guys? You look hurt!" Millianna exclaimed.

"L-Let's not talk about it, Millianna." Kagura said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Bu…" Millianna attempted blushing before being interrupted by Kagura. "NO OBJECTIONS!" Kagura shouted.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Millianna obeyed out of fear. The rest of her team also complied out of fear at their captain's rage.

Kagura sighed, exhausted and hoping that the day would finally end so she could rest. She glanced at Erza, who was quite fatigued herself.

"Are we still planning anything else here, Erza?" Kagura asked.

"I was hoping we'd check out the jewelry shop just to look around, but that's it I guess. Unless you want to try the shoe place," Erza suggested.

"I don't care for such materialistic things, but if that's what you want to do, Erza, then I'm all for it," Kagura assured.

"Really, Kagura? You're willing to join me?" Erza asked.

"Like I said earlier, Erza, I don't care how much I have to do and how embarrassing our adventures get. I want to change and that's that," Kagura answered, smirking.

The Mermaid ace faced her team. "What about you guys? What are your plans?" Kagura asked.

"I want to join you guys, Kagura-chan," Millianna jumped.

"Very well, Millianna," Kagura nodded as Millianna cheered and hugged her captain.

"We're just going to get some groceries for the guild then we're heading back," Risley said.

Kagura nodded as the other three team members went off to the supermarket. She turned to Erza and Millianna, who gestured her to the jewelry shop. Kagura nodded as she followed her two close friends to the jewelry shop. At least it won't take too long, or so she thought.

Little did any of the three realize, they were in for one of the most awkward and disgusting battles they had ever fought. It would be so awkward, in fact, that it would stain the innocence of Kagura and Millianna forever.

 *** Yes, I made a reference to the dress. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, all social media will answer for you.**

 **And there you have it. This took a while to get out. I was going to include the fight with the Jiggle Butt Gang for this chapter, but I decided to just end it off here.**

 **Let me say this, though. The part where I got writer's block is during the swimwear store scene. In case nobody knew, I'm a guy, so I don't know the process of fitting into swimwear and whatnot. I don't want to be a pervert that searches it up online or watches it happen at a mall. I also felt awkward writing it... Stupid nerd I am..**

 **The serious conversation in the beginning of the chapter is basically what I couldn't fit in during the conversation in Chapter 1. :P Real quick, I want to explain Kagura's inferiority and guiltiness in the beginning. I'm not trying to destroy her stoic nature, and I'm NOT bashing Kagura's character. She's my favorite female character in the SERIES, along with Erza. I'm simply trying to make her more relatable in the sense that she has had lots of feelings bottled up that she didn't realize she had before coming across Erza, someone who relates to her more than pretty much every other living character in the series. Not even Kagura can block out her emotions for so long. She likely needed someone to talk to that would get what she was saying, and who was better to talk to than Erza? Arguably, Millianna is another good choice, but she's not right for the role. Erza is more fitting because she's more outgoing and more serious when she has to. So yeah, just wanted to clear that up.**

 **Also, I decided that Kagura will call Erza 'Nee-san' only when they're alone or having a private conversation. She'll call Erza by her name when in front of others.**

 **And I'd like to add that I tried to make this chapter as funny as I could without overdoing it. More yuri vibes, awkward scenes, and such.**

 **And I wanted Kagura to be like Erza in the sense that she could switch from serious and stoic to awkward and funny. This chapter demonstrates that in multiple ways.**

 **Next chapter is a funny, awkward, and gross battle between Millianna, Erza, and Kagura and the infamous truly evil Jiggle Butt Gang. Stay tuned for that. Hopefully it'll be out within a week or two, ideally within the week. Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 4: A Truly Evil Confrontation

**After completely binging Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches and all of To LOVE-Ru, I'm back with Chapter 4! Took a lot longer than I wanted because I had to rewatch the episodes with the Jiggle Butt Gang to see how they play out. I also tried making this chapter funny and true to the series without overdoing it or dragging it out, which is my worst fear for this chapter. If too many people felt this was dragged on too long, I'll gladly cut some bits out. Otherwise, enjoy!**

 ***Also, Lackey A is the skinny one, Lackey B is the fat one**

On the way to the jewelry shop, Kagura started reflecting back on what had been going on today, from the awkward morning to the swimwear shopping to the cake shop. Kagura didn't realize that despite all the awkward and embarrassing events that occurred, she had fun in doing so. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. She didn't expect to ever feel this way again after she declared her vendetta, but she did. She actually had fun.

And it was Erza she had to thank.

Kagura never expected Erza to influence her in such a way. Ever since she came to the guild, she was nothing but helpful, understanding, and inspiring. She opened the Gravity Change Mage's eyes on what was more important, and Kagura discovered and uncovered many issues, insecurities, and worries that she didn't realize she had. The Mermaid ace had no comprehension of how much she owed the Requip Mage for how much she had done for her throughout her life. Erza was her 'big sister,' and now Kagura viewed her as such. With Erza around, Kagura had hope that she could change.

When Erza leaves, everything would be as it was before, and hopefully by then, Kagura would be changed enough to move on and continue recovering, in order to make her 'big sis' proud when they see each other again. Kagura would have to rely on her guild mates to make sure that she doesn't revert back to how she was before. She was confident that they would do their part, and she would do hers in continuing to train and unifying them like never before. She wanted to be as great and passionate a leader as Erza, and she wanted Mermaid Heel to be as close-knit as Fairy Tail was.

Kagura smirked at her plans. _Playing the little sister again, Kagura. Sometimes things aren't meant to change…_ She told herself. While she was still the stoic, strict, and respected ace of Mermaid Heel, with her views of Erza as an older sister and a role model, her unintentional clingy behavior around her, her quiet demeanor, and her increasingly softer personality since the Games, Kagura was indeed starting to play a type of little sister role again. As much as it contrasted her behavior before the Games, Kagura had to admit that she was more comfortable becoming a sort of little sister, since she was technically destined for it by being Simon's little sister. With Erza around, she started becoming the little sister she thought she abandoned after finding out about Simon's death.

She could see that role in Millianna as well, as Kagura stared at the cat girl laughing aloud at whatever Erza said. Maybe in the future, the three of them could be close enough to be considered genuine sisters. She wanted to be the little sister for Erza, and the older sister for Millianna and the rest of Mermaid Heel. They'll all be one big happy family someday.

Curious, Kagura sped up in order to listen to what Erza and Millianna were talking about.

"… so I entered Simon's house. I wanted to scare him, so I hid behind one of the corners. I heard footsteps, so I jumped out and screamed as loudly as I could. Suddenly, I realized that I scared Kagura, and she was so scared she fainted!" Erza finished her story.

Millianna fell to the ground laughing, while Kagura had a deep blush on her face out of slight anger and embarrassment.

"ERZA! WHY ARE YOU TELLING Millianna THAT STORY?! I NEVER TOLD ANYONE THAT, NOT EVEN SIMON!" Kagura screamed.

"I also didn't realize that Simon went grocery shopping that day. You were still knocked out when he came back. When he asked what happened to you, I just said I babysat you for him and you fell asleep," Erza explained with a smirk.

Millianna recovered as she stood up. "Er-chan, how old were you and Kagura-chan when this happened?" She asked.

"She was only four and I was seven. Simon told you guys that Kagura was one of the cutest shyest kids ever," Erza answered as she hugged the still blushing Kagura.

"Oh yeah! I wish I were around when we were kids! I would've loved to see Kagura-chan act so cute!" Millianna exclaimed, blushing in cuteness at the thought.

Kagura looked down in embarrassment, while Erza was snickering to herself.

 _Kagura… Is there no end to your cuteness? Now that I'm your big sis, I can tell all kinds of embarrassing stories about us when we were little like a big sister should,_ Erza thought excitedly.

Kagura looked up at the Requip Mage to notice her smirking. Right away, the Mermaid ace discovered that it was only the beginning of her impending torture. The little sister act was really kicking in now.

The three mages continued walking to the jewelry shop, which was just around the corner in a matter of moments. Millianna started running to the shop in excitement. As she went ahead, the two swordswomen slowed down. Kagura knew she was making progress in recovery already, but she knew there was still a long road ahead.

"Erza," she tapped Erza's shoulder. When the Requip Mage turned to her, Kagura said, "I want to tell Millianna everything. I want her to be the first to know. She's like a little sister to me, just like she's a little sister to you. She may understand the most out of everybody."

Erza started thinking to herself. Kagura had a point. Out of everyone in Mermaid Heel, Millianna had the most right to know, and Kagura was right in saying that Millianna was like a little sister to the scarlet haired mage. In fact, all three of them could be as close as siblings. After all, other than Simon, Millianna was the main link between the two swordswomen.

"Maybe, Kagura, but give it time. It's your call whether you're ready or not, but to be safe, let's give it a week or so. Maybe then, you and I can tell her everything that happened," Erza responded.

Kagura nodded in understanding. It would be inevitable that she would break down while she tells the cat girl everything, as it would take all of Kagura's willpower to talk about everything. It might also take Erza everything in her spirit to remain composed as well.

The two swordswomen turned the corner only to find out that Millianna was staring at the jewelry shop in disgust and slight fear.

"What's wrong, Millianna? Is there something happening at the jewelry shop?" Kagura asked. She turned to Erza in confusion, only to discover that the Requip Mage also froze.

"I've felt this feeling before, and I've smelt this stench before…" Erza whispered, "They're here? Why here? Why now?"

Kagura was getting intimidated. If the almighty Titania froze, then this enemy has got to be a force to be reckoned with. Little did the Mermaid ace know, Erza wasn't scared of this force; rather, she was disgusted. This familiar feeling dated back to before the Grand Magic Games, and it was a force she didn't want to feel again. It was one of the most awkward fights she ever had to deal with.

To confirm Erza's suspicions, a gigantic yellow smelly gas cloud emitted from the jewelry shop like a miniature thermonuclear detonation. Erza, Kagura, and Millianna covered their noses and flinched away from the explosion. Kagura and Millianna also shielded their eyes, fear and absolute disgust slowly crawling up their spines. Erza kept her eyes on the jewelry shop, hoping that it wasn't who she thought it was that created the putrid gas cloud.

Moments later, three silhouettes appeared as the gas cloud dissipated. Surrounding them were the countless unconscious bodies of the unfortunate patrons and employees that happened to be in the shop when the gas erupted. What made these three silhouettes so unique were their gigantic round waistlines, at least as seen from the front view. A raspy laugh was heard, along with two cheers in the background. Erza froze again. _Yes… It IS them…_ She thought. Once all of the gas dissipated, Kagura and Millianna opened their eyes to see the three silhouettes finally taking form.

"We have captured all the jewelry from this shop! And our reign of terror in this town has only just begun!" The raspy voice shouted.

"I feel so truly evil, Boss!" A scrawny squeaky voice announced.

"Let's go to the furniture shop and steal all of the beds and pillows!" A deep voice suggested.

The three figures then stepped into view. The three women all gasped in shock to see the three grotesque looking men with inhumanely gigantic buttocks. All three of them were holding white bags full of jewelry. Suddenly, both groups of three were at a stare down.

"Lackey A, Lackey B, assemble!" The leader announced. The three men huddled into a circle, whispering inaudibly to each other. Unconsciously, they were shaking their assets and occasionally flatulating ever so squeakily.

"Why didn't you two check for any witnesses as we entered the shop?!" The leader whispered harshly.

"No, we checked! We checked! We were sure there wasn't anybody around the store when we entered!" Lackey A assured.

"Then why are there three women staring at us right now?!" The leader growled.

"They probably came after we went through with our plan!" Lackey B stated.

"Well then, we'll take them! There's nothing more truly evil than gathering three damsels in distress!" The leader suggested.

"Great idea!" Lackey B praised.

"As expected of our Boss!" Lackey A joined in on the praise.

Meanwhile, the three females stared at the Jiggle Butt Gang as the three men whispered to each other. Kagura and Millianna were confused and disgusted, while Erza was still frozen with shock.

Kagura started staring at the butts of the three men. Suddenly, the six year old in her awoke. She gasped and pointed at the three asses that were facing them like a child seeing a monster.

"W-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!" Kagura screamed.

Erza and Millianna stared in shock at the Mermaid ace's outburst. Erza expected that sort of response from Millianna. She was hoping that Kagura would be her usual calm and stoic self, and this ordeal would be over with in a matter of moments. These three weren't that hard to deal with, and she was a lot more powerful than she was when she first confronted them. With Kagura and Millianna, this fight could be over before any of them broke a sweat.

"E-Erza… You know these three freaks?" Kagura asked, her eyes unable to turn away from their butts.

"Y-Yeah… I know them all right. Get ready for an… interesting battle," Erza said, looking down in humiliation and disgust.

 _If only Wendy were here…_ Erza thought.

Millianna and Kagura stared at her in curiosity at what she meant. What would make this battle so interesting?

The Jiggle Butt Gang turned back to the three mages and laughed 'evilly'.

"Alright!" The leader began, "Best escape while you can, ladies, for none of you would want to face the truly evil wrath of…"

As he trailed off, all three of them turned around to show the three female mages their behinds. "… The Jiggle Butt Gang!" All three finished.

"I… I think I'm gonna be sick…" Millianna complained.

"Don't blame you there. They're as despicable as it gets..." Erza agreed.

Kagura, meanwhile, was rendered speechless and frozen in shock as she stared at the three males' large rears.

"Kagura, snap out of it! We can take these guys easily! I've faced them before. We have to defeat them before…" Erza tried to snap Kagura out of her traumatic trance, but before she could do so, the Jiggle Butt Gang leader interrupted.

"Lackey A, Lackey B, build up power!" He ordered.

"Yes, boss!" The lackeys obeyed as all three of their butts started shaking and vibrating wildly.

"Er-chan, what do we do?!" Millianna grabbed onto Erza, starting to get scared at what the Jiggle Butt Gang had in store for them.

"This isn't good!" Erza shouted. She had to think quickly before they unleashed their wrath. Millianna was getting frightened and Kagura was still frozen in trance. Erza had to pull something fast before…

Suddenly, the three men stopped shaking their fannies. "Charge complete! Prepare! Jiggle Butt Secret Art!" The leader shouted.

 _Too late…_ Erza thought, sweat dripping down her face.

"Gas Butt Triple Ecstasy!" All three men shouted as they unleashed a giant gas explosion similar to the cloud that appeared from inside the jewelry shop.

As quick as can be, Erza grabbed Kagura and Millianna, requipped into her Adamantine Armor, and shielded herself from the explosion while Millianna and Kagura shielded their noses from the impending stench.

Thanks to Erza's quick thinking, Kagura finally snapped out of her trance, and her mental state returned to her usual stoic self.

"Oh God! I can't breathe!" Millianna shouted. She shielded her nose and looked around for the three men from behind Erza.

Erza, whose arms were used to create the massive powerful shield, was exposed to the odor. She coughed and wheezed as she tried to remain conscious in the gas cloud.

"This smell… again! It reeks!" Erza grunted. "This is our chance to fight back! Get ready to attack as soon as the gas dissipates!" Kagura nodded as she readied her sword. She was still tired from her fight with Erza over the cake, but she still had an ample amount of energy left in her to fight.

But before the three women could counterattack, the three Jiggle Butt men used their gas cloud as a smokescreen and each of them grabbed Erza, Kagura and Millianna.

As they grabbed the women, the Jiggle Butts noticed their guild marks.

"Boss, these three are not just regular women. They're guild mages!" Lackey A said.

The Jiggle Butt leader, who was holding Erza, suddenly recognized her by her hair and her guild tattoo.

"No! It's you!" The leader shouted as he faced Erza. The two stared each other down as they looked back to their confrontation during the Key to the Starry Sky ordeal.

The two lackeys glanced over to their leader and they screamed at the sight of her as well. Millianna and Kagura were confused, since they had never seen this group before.

"You! You're the woman that made fools out of us! But now, we're more powerful than ever before! Our butts can handle a lot more and we learned new moves that will make everyone quiver! Our hearts darken and darken! And I see the Goddess isn't here either! Now, we're able to defeat you, and we'll become an even more infamous foe that will send shivers down even the most truly evil's spines!" The leader shouted as the two lackeys cheered.

 _Overly dramatic…_ Erza and Kagura thought simultaneously.

"Goddess? Who's the Goddess?" Kagura asked.

"That would be Wendy…" Erza answered.

"How did she… never mind," Kagura sighed. She should've gone with the rest of her team and they all would've been back at the guildhall by now. She recalled what Erza said earlier. These three shouldn't be that strong, since Erza already confronted them and defeated them. If Erza can beat them, the three of them should have little to no problem. Kagura made her move.

The two lackeys started feeling lightheaded as Kagura activated her Gravity Change magic, removing their gravity and making the space around the two Jiggle Butts lighter. The two lackeys started floating.

"What's going on?! I'm floating!" The two lackeys shouted from in the air.

While they were up there, on instinct, Millianna wrapped them with her kitten binding tubes. After the tubes tied the two lackeys up, Kagura returned the gravity and the two Jiggle Butts fell back down to Earth. Erza stood by, impressed at Kagura and Millianna's instinctive teamwork.

The leader was wide-eyed as he let go of Erza and glared at his lackeys.

"You two disappoint me, getting captured so easily! That's not truly evil at all!" The leader yelled.

"Sorry, boss!" The lackeys said in humiliation.

"Now, give me 41 pushups! Show me that you are worthy of being a member of this group!" The Jiggle Butt leader demanded.

"Wait, we have to do it? We're tied up!" Lackey A asked.

"And that's a weird number, Boss!" Lackey B added.

"HOLD IT!" Erza yelled. Everyone stopped and stared at the redhead mage. She had that look on her face; a face of disappointment and stoicism that can scare even some of the most hardened criminals.

"Did you three not learn from our confrontation last time?" She asked. She pointed at the Jiggle Butt leader, "You're still not leading your men properly!" She turned and pointed at the two still tied up lackeys, "And you two lack proper training! You guys say you've improved since our last battle? HA! Don't make me laugh. You make a mockery of evil and I'll show you what a REAL leader is capable of! Now, Millianna, untie the two lackeys, and you three, drop down and give me a hundred and fifty!" The two lackeys quivered in fear as they started doing Erza's one hundred fifty. The leader just stood there, steam exiting his ears in rage.

Kagura and Millianna were watching the scene with pure disbelief in their eyes. Erza was actually taking charge of their group, and the Jiggle Butts weren't fighting back or arguing against her. They also noticed that Erza requipped into a similar tight black rubber jumpsuit similar to the gang's.

 _E-Erza…_ Kagura stuttered, _why are you so into this? Is this how you beat them last time?_

"Er-chan? What's going on?" Millianna asked, dumbfounded at Erza 'helping' the thieves.

"I'm giving them a reality check. If they want to be truly and notoriously evil, they need to know what's coming to them!" Erza replied.

"I… don't get your logic, Erza…" Kagura commented. Still, she was impressed at Erza's leadership skills. She had only seen tiny snippets of Titania's leadership capabilities during their time together, but not to this extent. It was intimidating, and it had put drill sergeants to shame. Despite this, Erza made no sense in doing this. They were thieves; albeit terrible thieves, but thieves nonetheless. Why would someone so bent on justice actually help them out?

The two lackeys lost feelings in their arms before even reaching thirty pushups. Erza facepalmed while Kagura and Millianna looked at the scene in embarrassment and utter confusion. Is this how Erza goes through some of her battles?

Erza noticed that the Jiggle Butt leader didn't even try any pushups. "You didn't even do anything! What kind of leader refuses to accept a challenge and lead their subordinates to their goal?! You don't just make a mockery of evil-doers but you also make a mockery out of leadership and those who follow that path!" Erza yelled.

Suddenly, the Jiggle Butt leader laughed. "You think you can boss us around again? We don't care for qualities as leadership! Our pride is in our butts, and we will show you that the truly evil refuse to be bossed around! Lackeys, assemble!" As the three men gather once again, the three women stared blankly at them.

"Isn't this our chance to take them out? This battle is dragging on longer than usual, and dinner starts in an hour…" Kagura said.

"Sorry about that, got too into it. I'm sick of some poser taking charge when he doesn't deserve it," Erza apologized.

"Uh, it's alright, I guess," Kagura replied.

"So what are we going to do with them?" Millianna asked.

Erza sighed, "If only Wendy were here. She would've made this so much easier."

"If I may, what happened last time? What do these three have to bring to the table? And what makes them such an interesting fight?" Kagura asked.

Erza quickly told Kagura and Millianna everything that happened that involved the Jiggle Butt Gang. She told them about the job that Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy took, what Wendy did to them before Natsu sent them flying, and their confrontation in the middle of the whole Clock Piece scenario with Cana, Wendy, and herself.

"Ah, so it seems that they're easily manipulated, they lack much battle skill and knowledge, and they do everything… using their butts…" Kagura summarized.

"That's about right. I don't get why it's taking us so long to defeat them," Erza said.

"Probably just their nonsensical approach at combat and their unnatural abilities," Kagura theorized, feeling queasy at the thought of their fart powers.

"I guess we'll have to do this the traditional way: wipe the floors clean of them and let the local authorities handle the rest," Kagura suggested. Millianna and Erza nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the Jiggle Butt Gang had their own plan. "I think one of my butt cheeks is bigger than my other," commented Lackey B.

"Never mind that! We must come up with a truly evil plan that will defeat and humiliate the three female mages before us," the Jiggle Butt leader declared.

"But what do we do? The Fairy beat us last time," said Lackey A.

"And the other two seem tough too, Boss!" Lackey B mentioned.

"I see that, lackeys. The bunny ear girl can alter our gravity, and the cat girl can tie things up. I need to think of a special plan to subdue all three of them," the leader trailed off as he started cooking up a scheme.

Moments later, a light bulb appeared over his head, which was ironically the night lights turning on in the shopping center. "I got it, lackeys! Lackey A, take the cat girl. Lackey B, you take on the bunny ears. When you get to them, perform Point Blank Ecstasy. I'll distract the Fairy, since she has had Point Blank Ecstasy performed on her before. She'll be the last one to deal with, and we'll finish her three on one with our truly evil finishing move! It's getting dark, and that means if we did this plan right and we defeat these mages, we'll be home free to steal everything in this shopping place! We'll show the world just how truly evil The Jiggle Butt Gang is! Operation: Defeat the Mages and Steal Everything in This Town at Night will now commence!" The leader announced.

"This is your best idea yet, Boss!" Lackey A praised.

"My heart has never been more filled with evil!" Lackey B exclaimed.

The two groups faced each other once more, both sides ready to finish this battle. The three women lunged while the three Jiggle Butts jumped.

Erza knew what was coming, but neither Kagura nor Millianna knew. Erza parried right while the two lackeys shoved their butts onto Kagura and Millianna's faces. The Requip Mage gasped as she saw her two 'sisters' stare in disgust and confusion at the pairs of asscheeks on their respective faces. Confirming Erza's fears, the two lackeys then shouted, "Point Blank Ecstasy!" Time slowed down as Kagura and Millianna had been delivered a crushing and truly grotesque blow that knocked the wind, power, and dignity out of them.

The leader laughed evilly, "It went perfectly as planned!" Needless to say, Titania was pissed. These men were more disgusting than before, and they just attacked her 'sisters'. Kagura, who was known for her durability, stood up slowly. She coughed, wheezed and gagged before walking up to Erza, her hair overshadowing her eyes. Erza could sense a savage murderous aura coming from her 'little sister'. On the other hand, Millianna was losing consciousness. She was not quite as durable or powerful as the two swordswomen. She stood back and tried to get fresh oxygen back into her lungs.

Kagura glanced at Erza, both with frightening glares imprinted on their faces.

"Unforgivable…" Kagura growled, "You waste my time… You ruin my day… You attack my friends… and you practically defecated on me!"

Erza nodded her head in agreement once before requipping two swords: Crimson Sakura and her Black Wing Sword. Kagura unsheathed Archenemy.

It was at this moment that the Jiggle Butt Gang questioned if they really were truly evil, as they stared with endless shuddering fear at the two extremely enraged women walking slowly up to them with mercilessly homicidal intent.

Erza and Kagura felt like they were emerging from hell and coming back with a vengeance. This battle had gone on for far too long. It was time to end this, and they'll leave a mark in their pride to show that if they dare show their faces anywhere near Mercia Port again, death will come swiftly.

Erza crossed her swords while Kagura entered an attack stance. They yelled, "UNISON RAID: BLOOD MOON SLASH OF VENGEANCE!" A three-way slash capable of destroying the entire town followed by a massive shadow and magical energy aftershock took place, which demolished everything in its path. Three bloodcurdling screams were heard. Moments later, the three Jiggle Butt Gang members were all but disintegrated, their bags of jewels dropping onto their butts as if cushioning their fall.

The two swordswomen put their swords away and fell to their knees, panting as the last of their energy was snuffed out. Millianna ran to Erza and Kagura and helped them up.

"You did it! It's finally over! You guys still fine to walk?" Millianna asked.

Both Erza and Kagura glanced at each other before smiling and helping each other up.

"Thank goodness that's over with. Let's hurry back to the guildhall for dinner. I'm starved!" Erza said.

With that, the three mages started heading back to the guildhall.

"Do you think we overdid it a bit?" Kagura asked as she pointed at the result of their unison raid.

Millianna gasped at the sight. The shopping center was miraculously mostly intact, save for a few of the shops including the jewelry shop. The hill that was used as a meadow to watch the sea was cut in half and the smaller hills behind it were non-existent.

"Ah… I guess we had trouble controlling our rage. That's something we both have to work on, Kagura," Erza pointed out.

"Agreed. I guess there's still a lot of anger left in me," Kagura replied.

"No, we had good reason. They attacked the many innocents in the jewelry shop, and they attacked you and Millianna with a putrid move. Thank goodness I didn't have to deal with anymore moves that they had up their sleeves," Erza assured.

"Right," Kagura trailed off, "Just one more thing..."

"What?" Erza asked.

"WHY ARE ALL THREE OF US WEARING THE JIGGLY BUTT UNIFORMS?!" Kagura shouted as she was suddenly wearing Jiggly Butt Gang attire out of nowhere.

Millianna shrieked as she checked herself out in shock and confusion on how exactly they were put on without either Mermaid Heel mage noticing.

"I thought it looked cute on you guys," Erza replied. Kagura sighed in humiliation. Not only did she just witness and fight the most awkward battle she ever took part in, but she also had a keepsake for said awkward battle.

Erza decided to brighten the mood. "Well, I see you've gotten stronger Kagura, after seeing you that angry," Erza commented.

Kagura blushed slightly, flattered at Erza's compliment.

"Thank you, Erza. Since the Games, I've been training with my magic and my sword more often. I've been studying on Gravity Magic as a whole, and I've been trying to learn the same magic as my mother, Elemental Gravity Change Magic. And of course, I've been practicing more with the sword, just so I can take you on," Kagura smirked.

"So you want a nice authentic battle next time you train, Kagura?" Erza asked, smirking as well.

"I think I have what it takes," Kagura said, her smirk widening.

Millianna raised her hand childishly, "Can I join in?!"

"Well, I do plan to punish Araña and Risley for mocking us all day during my next training session, which is in a week or so. I've also been looking forward to seeing the results of your training in particular, Millianna. Erza and I will test you as well," Kagura told the cat girl, her smirk not going away. Millianna was getting afraid of her captain and her close friend.

Erza, Kagura, and Millianna were in high spirits as they sauntered back to the Mermaid Heel guildhall. It had only been a day since Erza came to visit the guild, and she was already having a lot of fun. She also enjoyed seeing Kagura loosening up to her and Millianna. So much progress had been made in this one day. Erza was excited to see what the rest of her time with Kagura holds. Her promise to Kagura and Master Anita would be kept and made in a matter of weeks if they kept this pace, but the redhead mage knew more than to rush things. For now, it's time for dinner.

 **And there we have it. As I said, I hope the battle didn't drag out too long. I might make it a thing where I explain stuff I felt needs to be explained at the end of every chapter just to clarify any misunderstandings.**

 **It was tough keeping Kagura and Millianna in character in this chapter because they haven't faced such an evil group of thieves like the Jiggle Butt Gang. I took a guess out of the ball park and made Millianna confused of the situation and easily grossed out while having Kagura switch off from cute and awkward to stoic to confused.**

 **Since Erza isn't new to facing this, I tried to make her play the central role in telling Kagura and Millianna what to do and pushing them out of harm's way.**

 **Also, it was tough writing about the Jiggle Butt Gang. There were no specific names and I just went by lackeys and leader. I also had trouble with their personalities. Fight scenes are tough to write. It was so fun for me to imagine, but putting it in words was on a whole new level.**

 **Anyways, hints for Chapter 5: It's just the rest of the day. Dinner, more deep conversations between Erza and Kagura, and chats between Erza, Kagura, her team, Master Anita, and some old members that were featured in the prologue that I won't give away. That's basically it. It's a slow chapter but it kinda progresses the plot and it gets more people involved. Stay tuned, because this might take a while too unfortunately.**


	6. Chapter 5: Dinner Chats and Advice

**Hey all! I am back with a new chapter! It took a while again, and I apologize, but talks take a while to thoroughly come up with, and transitioning between them is nearly impossible. Anyways enjoy!**

Erza, Kagura, and Millianna arrived at Mermaid Heel's guildhall just in time for dinner. Erza looked around in awe. Even though she had seen the guildhall already and the amount of activity it had, it still surprised her how incredible the view was. The very long feast tables and buffet lines, the décor that made the whole hall look like the inside of a royal castle, the eloquent flooring and tables, and the food itself were all sights to see. All the women and few visiting men were enjoying the feast with great enthusiasm. At the end of the tables, Erza could see Master Anita and some unrecognizable members sitting around her. She assumed they were old or former members of the guild.

Erza followed Kagura and Millianna to the suites to quickly shower and change after witnessing that terrible and awkward battle with the Jiggle Butt Gang, but the rest of Kagura's team stopped them as they were setting plates for dinner.

"Hey! About time you guys came ba-" Risley stopped as she stared at the trio's attire, "Um… What are those?"

"Am I missing something here or are they in weird tight jump suits?" Araña asked in total disbelief.

"They smell weird too. Did you guys exercise or get thrown in a dumpster?" Beth asked.

"Beth has a point. They reek!" Araña exclaimed.

"Let's just say… something unpleasant happened at the jewelry shop…" Erza replied, looking down in shame and humiliation. Kagura and Millianna nodded and put their heads down as well.

"What she said. Now could you three please allow us through so we can wash up and get ready for dinner? I'm starving enough as is. You don't want me to take my frustration out on you, now do you?" Kagura asked with a murderous aura surrounding her as she grabbed the hilt of Archenemy.

Remembering Kagura's threat and punishment from the dressing room incident, the three teammates instantly moved out of the trio's way as the three 'sisters' hastily moved to the suites to clean themselves.

* * *

After Erza, Kagura, and Millianna showered and dressed into fresh clean clothes, they met up in front of the guildhall. They walked in to find out that dinner was just ready and people were already grabbing food from the buffet tables. The trio met up with the rest of Kagura's team as they went in line for the buffet tables.

 _I see you've returned, Titania._ A voice suddenly said in Erza's head.

 _Huh?_ Erza asked in surprise. She looked around to see the source of the voice. She glanced at Master Anita, who was using her telepathy magic.

 _Anita-sama. Yeah, we're back._ Erza smiled, realizing the situation.

 _Take Kagura-san and eat dinner with us. There's something we need to discuss._ Anita ordered as her expression went serious.

Erza wanted to help Kagura fight her shyness by talking to her team, but if Anita needed to talk about something serious, then she didn't seem to have much of a choice.

After grabbing their dinners, Erza tugged on Kagura's blazer and gestured her to follow her. Kagura was confused at this, since she expected her 'big sis' to tell her to join in on her team's conversation. Millianna and the others were also confused as they saw the two swordswomen walking off to another table. Millianna attempted to follow them but the others scolded her into staying in case she did anything inappropriate.

Erza and Kagura sat with Master Anita and the two mages accompanying her. Both of them were around the same age as Anita. One of them had short pearlescent blue and green hair and she had a highly formal aura. She had mesmerizing rainbow-colored eyes as if the color spectrum reflected off of her irises. She wore unique clothing decorated like a night sky. She was rather short in stature compared to the other two women, but her body was still fit and youthful. The other woman looked young even though she seemed to be in her mid-forties. She had glowing orange hair that synergized well with the guildhall's lights. Her rose eyes were just as captivating as the other mage's. She wore regular outgoing clothes and had a very slim and fit body.

"Erza-san, Kagura-san, it's great to see you two getting along so well. So how was your first day with the guild, Erza-san?" Anita greeted.

"It went well, for the most part. I plan on staying for a little while longer," Erza replied.

"That's good to know," Anita smiled, "Ah, and I'd like you to meet two of my former teammates: Zeeta Amira and Maria Eitana."

"It's great to see you, Erza-san," the orange haired woman now identified as Maria greeted. Erza shook her hand and bowed.

"Aye. It is indeed an honorable pleasure to finally encounter the charismatic and puissant Titania Erza," Zeeta bowed. Erza bowed back, sweatdropping slightly because she had almost no clue on what she just said.

Anita sensed Erza's slight uneasiness at Zeeta's sophisticated word choice. "I'll apologize on Zeeta-san's behalf for her choice of words. She was raised in high society and grew up as an aspiring strategist and teacher before coming to Mermaid Heel to prove herself. She never intends to come off as a showoff. Even now, there are times when I myself couldn't understand a word she says. Only Elena-sama could understand her completely," Anita explained. All three older women tensed up upon Anita mentioning Elena. Even Kagura took a deep breath at the sound of her mother's name.

Erza placed a hand behind her head, "It's fine. I might just need some help translating what she says. Anyways, why'd you call us here?"

"Yes, Master. I do not understand what I am doing here since Erza's the guest of honor," Kagura chimed in.

"We were getting to that, Kagura-san. The reason we called you here, Erza-san, Kagura-san, is to discuss your plans in the future regarding Kagura-san's recovery from her 'self-inflicted curse'. We'll also deal and make light of small issues within the guild," Anita explained.

"And Zeeta-san and I are here to visit Elena-sama's grave. It's almost the anniversary of her sacrifice," Maria said with a sad smile.

"I would like to add that Maria-san and myself are inquisitive of Kagura-san's progress as a mage and as a woman, and we would love to witness her progression firsthand," Zeeta added.

Anita nodded as she gestured the two swordswomen to sit down. As they did so, all five mages began to eat.

To break the silence, Kagura spoke up, "Master, is Naomi-san coming here, too?"

"Unfortunately she isn't. She considers herself the guiltiest of our group over your mother's death because she didn't speak up against her plan to sacrifice herself. Your mother never blamed any of us, but we all believe that we are at fault. Naomi-san still has yet to visit your mother's tomb, like yourself, and we're still trying to convince the two of you to do so," Anita said, frowning.

"Wait. Kagura, why haven't you been visiting your mother's tomb?" Erza asked in disbelief. Kagura looked down in grief. She couldn't bring herself up to answer the question.

"Kagura-san stopped visiting her mother's tomb the year she found out Simon died. Ever since, she believed that she would have to give up on anything meaningful in the name of revenge. She 'cursed' herself to make sure that her vengeance was carried out," Anita explained.

Erza put her food down and looked to the ground. She glanced at Kagura, who still had a grief-stricken expression on her face.

"Kagura, I guess visiting your mother's grave will be another goal that we will set. Since you're on your road to recovery, you can finally visit your mother's tomb after your 'curse' has been lifted," Erza told the other swordswoman.

"I stopped visiting because I thought she would be disappointed in me going down the path I took. I figured that she wouldn't have wanted to see me angry or determined to kill a man. I still don't know what she'd think of me," Kagura said as she placed her head on the table, ashamed to see everyone's faces.

"We know how you feel all too well, Kagura-san. Even after all these years, I still don't know if Elena-sama would be sad at me for blaming myself for her death," Maria assured.

Everyone continued eating, unsure of what to say after that conversation. That is, until Anita spoke up with a slightly brighter topic.

"So, Erza-san, Kagura-san, how was your shopping spree today? I hear it was quite an interesting adventure. You two destroyed the local cake shop and stopped some criminals at the jewelry store," Anita recalled with a light smirk.

The two swordswomen froze. _Did the news spread that quickly?!_ They both shouted in their heads.

"I heard it was a reenactment of the Grand Magic Games fight between you two. Seemed like such a stalemate, too," Maria laughed.

"News of such a volatile conflict tends to get around, especially regarding women as omnipotent as the two of you," Zeeta snickered.

"So what did you fight about anyways?" Maria asked.

"C… Cake…" Kagura whispered.

"Huh? What was that Kagura-san?"

"Cake…"

"I can't quite…"

"WE FOUGHT OVER A SLICE OF STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE!" Kagura screamed. Most of the guildhall fell silent upon hearing her. Suddenly, most of the guild burst into laughter, including Anita, Zeeta, and Maria. Erza and Kagura scooted away from each other, both of their faces beet red in embarrassment.

"That sounds like something you would do, Kagura-san!" Maria exclaimed.

"And with Titania, the situation became even more obstreperous," Zeeta added.

After everything calmed down, Zeeta asked, "So, Anita-sama, how has the guild been as of lately?"

"Activity nearly quadrupled over the last month. Seems like all the big named guilds have been more hectic since Fairy Tail disbanded," Anita answered. Erza tensed up a bit, but she knew that Master Anita didn't mean any harm.

Anita turned to Erza, "I'm sorry. I guess that came out wrong."

"It's fine. I'm moving on from it. There is a chance for Fairy Tail to return, but in case it never happens, I have to keep moving forward," Erza assured, smiling. Kagura glanced at the redhead mage. She couldn't help but feel a bit jealous that Erza could move on just like that. Hopefully, she could move on from her past and look forward to what the future held for her, and hopefully she'll stay strong and confident as well.

"That's good to know, Erza-san. It's also good to see you here helping Kagura-san loosen up," Anita smiled.

"So how was today for you, Kagura-san? Since Erza-san is here to help you feel better, whatever happened today must have been interesting to you," Maria asked.

"Um… I…" Kagura blushed. She wanted to answer, but she was nervous since she hadn't felt this way in a while. "I… I had fun… I actually had fun. As embarrassing as today was, I had fun," Kagura finally answered, smiling to herself.

Erza, Anita, Zeeta, and Maria all smiled back. Anita especially grinned because she hasn't seen Kagura actually smile in a long time.

"Thank you… so much… Erza. You did all this for me, and because of you, I had fun for the first time in years," Kagura smiled as she turned to her 'big sister'.

"All I want is for you to feel better, Kagura," Erza smiled back. She then pulled the Mermaid ace into a hug, which Kagura returned with equal zeal.

"So what are your plans tomorrow, you two?" Anita asked after the two swordswomen separated their hug.

"Millianna and I planned for the three of us to go to the beach tomorrow to show off some swimsuits we bought while shopping," Erza answered.

"Hmm. It's unfortunate that I must say this, but I sense lengthy yet benign precipitation from the west. It seems you should postpone your plan for about three days," Zeeta stated with a frown.

"How do you know that, Zeeta-san?" Erza asked.

"Zeeta-san is an Astral Mage, so she could sense disturbances in space, including our atmosphere. That was how we got by the rainstorms and gusts back in the day," Maria explained.

"That is unfortunate," Erza stated. It was a bit of a shame. She was exited to go to the beach the following day and help Kagura feel more comfortable of her body.

"So what do you have planned now?" Anita asked Erza.

"If it does rain tomorrow, I guess I'll just spend more time with Kagura and Millianna. We'll simply catch up, plan on the near future, and tell random stories from our childhoods and some interesting jobs," Erza replied. Anita nodded, smiling at Erza for remaining optimistic.

The group fell silent once again as they all finished their respective dinners. That whole time, Erza sensed uneasiness in Kagura. Maybe it regarded her mother. As they put their plates and cups away, they all were at the front door of the guildhall.

"It was nice speaking with you two," Maria bowed.

"It was nice meeting you two, Maria-san," Erza bowed back.

"Do you want me to lock up the guildhall, Master?" Kagura asked Anita.

"No thank you, Kagura-san. Zeeta-san, Maria-san and I will be discussing more about the guild. I'll lock it up tonight. You and Erza-san can spend the rest of the night together," Anita answered.

"Then goodnight, Master. See you tomorrow morning," Kagura bowed.

"Erza-san, I would like to speak with you in private for a few minutes, if that's okay with you," Anita called to the redhead mage.

Kagura hesitated for a moment as she grabbed Erza's arm.

"It's fine, Kagura. You go ahead. It'll only be for a few minutes," Erza assured.

"We'll meet up at your place again?" Kagura asked, blushing lightly.

"Sure," Erza nodded, smiling at her 'little sister's' cuteness.

As Kagura went ahead to the suites, Erza faced Anita. "So what did you want to speak to me about?" Erza asked.

"I just want to thank you again for being here and aiding Kagura-san. She seemed so much happier during dinner, and hearing that she had fun today warmed my heart," Anita bowed.

"I'm sure it's what Simon would've wanted me to do with her. Hopefully soon she'll have a new resolve in life," Erza smiled at the thought of Simon smiling at her relationship with Kagura.

"I guess so, too. Also, I can't help but believe that she already has a new resolve," Anita replied. Erza was surprised and confused.

"She does?" Erza asked.

"If you really think about it, Kagura-san's new resolve is her motivation to change her personality. She also wants to make us all proud of her for recovering from her 'curse'," Anita clarified.

"Kagura does seem to be very motivated to change. I didn't think about that," Erza recalled. Anita was absolutely right. Kagura did have a new resolve, and neither of them realized it.

"She's been hiding most of her past struggles from all of us since I first took her in. I often sense that she wanted to tell me about them, but she never gains the courage to. I never meddle for her sake, but with your help, I think she can have the confidence to come clean, and to become born again a new person, and a new woman," Anita said.

"I'll make sure she does, Anita-sama," Erza promised, bowing before walking off to her suite. Anita waved and headed back into the guildhall to discuss guild matters with Zeeta and Maria.

* * *

When Erza arrived at her suite, she opened the door and noticed Kagura sitting in the dining room, her head resting on her arms on the table. Erza was confused at first. Kagura was already dressed up and ready for bed. Why was she in the dining area? As the redhead came closer to the Mermaid, she started hearing labored breaths. When Kagura's face came to view, Erza noticed that she was crying silently. The Requip Mage quickly sat down next to her.

"Kagura, what happened? Why are you crying?" Erza asked full of concern and worry.

"Nothing happened, Nee-san. I just started thinking about today," Kagura responded, sniffling.

"But you were fine for a while. I thought you had fun," Erza said, confused at why Kagura was crying.

"I did, and that's why I feel this way! I didn't think I'd ever feel enjoyment again. Yet today, I had fun. I had fun. I had fun… because of you," Kagura smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks. She pulled Erza closer and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you… Thank you…" Kagura whispered as she started sobbing again.

Erza smiled and returned the hug. "I'm glad that you feel this way, Kagura," Erza said.

Kagura let go of the hug. She snickered as she wiped her tears away.

"I know I shouldn't be crying like this. You must think I'm a weakling for crying this much over something so simple," Kagura laughed to herself. Erza looked at her 'little sister' in disbelief and confusion.

"You're not weak, Kagura," Erza protested, "Sometimes crying doesn't make you weak. If you find motivation through your tears, crying makes you stronger."

"What do you mean?" Kagura asked, wiping away the last of her tears.

"Think of it this way. Last night, you cried because you believed that your life was a waste. Now, you're trying harder than ever to change, and you're trying to find a new meaning in your life. You found motivation through your tears," Erza explained.

"And now, I cried because I had fun. Where's the motivation in that?" Kagura asked, still confused.

"Do you want to feel this way more often?" Erza asked, making her point in a more direct fashion.

Kagura nodded. She definitely wanted to have more fun like she did today. So that's her motivation?

"That's the point. You're crying because you haven't had fun in a long time. Now you are motivated to try to have more fun. You don't want this feeling to end," Erza smiled.

Needless to say, Kagura now understood her 'sister's' logic. She smiled back. She didn't know that Erza would have so much wisdom. She didn't look like the type to be so knowledgeable of dealing with depression and struggle.

"Master Makarov said that to me once. I became motivated to protect my friends, and to move on from the Tower of Heaven. I wanted to get stronger. Even to this day, I am motivated," Erza continued.

"You never cease to impress me, Nee-san. Who knew you'd have this much wisdom?" Kagura asked, smirking slightly.

"It probably just comes with being a guild mage," Erza replied, "You learn from your experiences and help those that are going through the same things you did."

Erza helped Kagura up and went to Erza's bed. When they got in and laid down, Erza faced Kagura again.

"So as you heard, our plan to go to the beach got cancelled," Erza mentioned.

Kagura nodded as she hugged her pillow.

"Is there something you want to do tomorrow? It's going to rain according to Zeeta-san," Erza asked.

"Usually I keep control of the guild and practice in the rain. This time, I'm not too sure what I want to do," Kagura replied.

"If you want, we can catch up some more. Maybe grab Millianna and tell some stories from our childhood to her," Erza suggested.

"Sure. That should help me recover more quickly as well, right? I'm just worried that I'll break down when I try to tell some stories," Kagura sighed.

"True, but I'm sure Millianna and I might break down too," Erza assured.

Twenty minutes passed, and neither Erza nor Kagura could sleep. Erza was just not tired, and Kagura was scared. She didn't want to have another nightmare flashback of the Rosemary invasion or her vow for vengeance. Erza turned to Kagura in an attempt to sleep, but she noticed that Kagura was still awake. Not only that, but her breathing was exasperated. Erza shook her 'sister', thinking she was crying again.

"Kagura, what's wrong? Are you crying again?" Erza asked with concern.

Kagura turned around, hugging her pillow more tightly.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just scared to sleep tonight," Kagura answered.

"Is it the nightmares?" Erza asked without thinking.

"How did you…" Kagura was surprised. Can Erza read her that easily, or was she just easy to read? Either way, it disheartened the Mermaid.

"I used to be scared of sleeping for that reason as well. I used to have countless sleepless nights due to nightmares from the Tower, Rosemary, Simon's death, and my parents' deaths," Erza explained.

"So how did you manage them?" Kagura asked.

"I thought of more positive scenarios. I think about my future with Fairy Tail, strawberry cheesecake, beating up Mira, among other things," Erza smiled.

Kagura tensed up a bit. She wanted to think more positively as well, but she couldn't think about any.

"How about this? Imagine what life would be like if we all escaped the Tower together. We found you, and we all joined Fairy Tail together. You, me, Millianna, Shou, Wally, Old Rob, Simon, even Jellal," Erza smiled at the thought.

Kagura started thinking as she closed her eyes. She imagined herself to be a lot softer in personality. She would play with Millianna like a real sister and she would look up to Erza like a real sister. Simon would probably be more overprotective of her, but she would be a lot happier in his company than without it. She didn't remember what Shou and Wally looked like, but chances are she would befriend them as well. Hell, she might even like Jellal. She only knew him for killing Simon, but she never knew his motives, and wondered if he was a genuinely nice guy.

Kagura sighed as sleep finally started taking over her. She smiled as she saw Simon's face again. It took about ten more minutes before Erza was certain Kagura was fully asleep. Erza couldn't help but think about her suggested scenario as well. Despite it being an ideal life to live, she couldn't say that she wasn't happy with her current life. She was a more mature and reliable person, and she learned a lot more from her miserable experiences, as much as she wished she never experienced them.

Erza glanced at Kagura, who slept silently with a light smile on her face. She looked so peaceful and so beautiful. She really should smile more often. Erza lightly rubbed Kagura's arm as she took in Kagura's appearance. She definitely has a more soft and delicate side. Slowly but surely, the redhead was melting Kagura's anger and cold side away, surfacing and exposing that delicate side.

* * *

After over an hour, Erza was still awake. She wasn't that tired, so she got out of bed slowly and stood at the balcony. She looked back at Kagura, who was still sleeping soundly. Erza smiled lightly before turning to the view. It was even more mesmerizing than it was in the morning. The moon was cut perfectly in half by the horizon of the sea. There was absolute silence except the light breeze and the waves down at the shore. The sceneries alone made Erza almost consider actually joining Mermaid Heel.

Suddenly, someone landed behind the Requip Mage. Erza quickly requipped a sword and turned around to find out who landed behind her. She gasped at who it was.

"I'm glad you're still alive and well, Erza," the man said, smiling softly at Erza.

"Jellal… how'd you know I was here?" Erza asked in shock.

"Word gets around quickly, and Erik could hear you pretty well from where we're camping out tonight," Jellal explained.

"What are you doing here, and how much did you hear?" Erza asked.

"There's rumors of a dark guild trying to be the successor to the Balam Alliance. Not much is known of them as of yet, but we're patrolling most of Fiore to find out more," Jellal answered.

"I don't think it's a great idea for you to be here of all places," Erza said.

"I know. That's why I waited until it was late at night to see you," Jellal admitted.

"I don't mean it like that," Erza argued, glancing at Kagura, who was still asleep.

Jellal looked that way and noticed her sleeping. "Who is that? I recognized her from the Games, but I never got her name."

"You'll find out eventually, and she'll have to see you on her own, in a different circumstance. I won't let you see her yet," Erza said.

"That's fine," Jellal paused as he stared off in the distance, "The others might be wondering where I am. I'll be heading out now. Be safe, Erza."

Before Jellal could leave, Erza pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you're fine as well, Jellal. I missed you," Erza whispered in his ear.

"I missed you too, Erza," Jellal replied, returning the hug.

"Please… At least update me on what you're doing. I'm no longer in a guild, so I'm free to help you if you ever need me," Erza begged.

"I'll consider your help, and I promise to come by whenever I could. After all this is over, you and I can finally calm down," Jellal smiled as he let go of the hug.

"Until next time, Erza," Jellal said as he jumped off the balcony.

Erza smiled, glad that Jellal was still fine. She stared at the scenery for another half hour before fatigue finally grew inside her. Erza yawned before closing the doors to the balcony and laying down next to Kagura, who was still smiling in her sleep. Erza smiled and pulled her 'sister' a bit closer before falling asleep. She was positive that if things stayed this positive and upbeat, Kagura could recover from her nightmares and past in no time.

 **I think I'm getting better at Kagura's new personality and balancing it with her stoicism. I don't know for sure, yet.**

 **Naterthegreater: Understood. I mainly added that scene for pure comedy. And after a while and after rereading the chapter, I realized that maybe it is appropriate to drag the fight for a while, because it dragged in the anime.**

 **On that note, let me ask. Should I keep the story as a comedy, or should I bring back the feels. Until this point, I've been trying to find a nice balance between the two, but lately I've been feeling like leaning towards one over the other.**

 **Also here's a few explanations:**

 **I was originally going to make the dinner chat much longer with guild issues and Kagura conversing with her team, but I couldn't think of anything good to progress them, so I cut them out.**

 **I made things interesting by adding Zeeta and Maria into the story. They are mostly going to be cheering from the sidelines. Also, I admit that I did have to look up some of the words I used for Zeeta's speeches. I wanted to make her incredibly hard to understand because I've always wanted a character to have sophisticated language, but I don't want to come off as a show off. I did this mostly for comedy.**

 **And I originally intended to have Jellal show up only in the very end of the story, but I felt like a clickbait doing so, so I decided to have him periodically showing up to update Erza on anything, since she will eventually be taking orders from him by spying on Avatar. Hopefully those small Jerza moments kept you guys sane.**

 **I also postponed the beach plan. I still want to do this, but I realized that I am covering five months. I don't want to make everything eventful happen day by day for five months. So there will be small timeskips in between to show highlights, then have days skip where nothing very eventful happens or just calmer days take place. I will be summarizing small events and highlights in the beginning of a new chapter like the next one.**

 **In chapter 6, it's going to be Kagura's next training session. Erza joins in for a little play-battle, and Kagura will be punishi** **ng Araña and Risley for repeatedly mocking her. Battles take forever to describe well, so it may take some time for me to get the next chapter done. And college is starting soon, so that doesn't help one bit. Nevertheless, stay tuned.**


	7. Chapter 6: Training

**Took so long, but I finally got it out. I had a lot of college preparation and writer's block as I wrote this chapter. I wanted this particular chapter to be sentimental in a sense, so unfortunately there aren't many comedic scenes. Enjoy nonetheless!**

 **Warning: REALLY long chapter ahead.**

 **Fiore, x784**

Sixteen year-old Kagura found herself walking along a beach of sorts. After looking around, she realized she was a good distance away from the Mermaid Heel guildhall. She had been walking along the shoreline for over seven hours. Nobody was around her. All she could hear was the light breeze of the early afternoon wind along with the small waves crashing onto the shore. Kagura's boots were getting soaked, but they were the least of her concerns.

Her search for Simon was inconsistent at best. At some times, the trail would go cold, only to be hot once again a mere moment later. This time around, the trail was hotter than ever after Kagura received word that survivors of the Tower of Heaven resided somewhere along the shoreline. More hopeful to find her brother than ever, Kagura hastily left the guildhall at the crack of dawn.

Another half hour later, Kagura saw silhouettes in the distance. Hoping it was not a mirage Kagura sped up for confirmation.

As she got close, she discovered three individuals building a log cabin of sorts. Two young men were hammering and lifting the logs while a catlike young woman was sitting on an empty barrel, humming a tune with an occasional mew.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to sit this out, Shou-chan?" The catlike girl asked.

"We're fine, Millianna-san! Wally and I will handle the rest," The dark blonde boy now identified as Shou answered.

"Yeah, leave the heavy lifting to the dandies," The blocky man named Wally added as the two men continued their task.

Kagura was still shy at this moment in time. She carried a childlike shy blush as she nervously stared at the three. It took a good ten minutes before Kagura gained the courage to walk up to the three. Because the two men were busy building, she came up to the cat girl.

Kagura stopped as Millianna noticed her. She stopped humming as she stared at the young woman in front of her.

"U-Um… Excuse me, I'm looking for my Onii-chan. He got taken away from me ten years ago to the Tower of Heaven. Do you have any idea where he is?" Kagura asked timidly. She played with her fingers nervously as she tried to keep her eyes on the person she was talking to.

Millianna gasped upon hearing about the Tower of Heaven. Thanks to Erza, she only escaped a few weeks ago, and she was finally beginning to move on from it. Now this young woman was here, asking about her brother who apparently was also a victim to the Tower. Millianna only knew a handful of people from the Tower, but there was always the possibility that she met this girl's brother.

"Um, who are you and what was your brother's name?" Millianna asked curiously.

"My name is Kagura Mikazuchi, and my Onii-chan's name is Simon Mikazuchi. Did you know him, and if you do, do you know where he is?" Kagura replied, a desperate look on her face.

Millianna gasped. She knew a Simon. She knew him well. Should she sugarcoat her answer? Should she lie and say that she didn't know him? Maybe she referred to another Simon. Millianna's face went serious.

"Did your brother have cream white skin and dark brown hair?" Millianna asked for clarification.

Kagura gasped, _She knows him! It's got to be him!_

"Yeah! Do you know where he is?!" She got closer to Millianna, hope rising throughout her body for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Millianna tensed up. She didn't want to answer. She didn't want to tell Kagura what happened to him. As much as she hesitated to, she didn't seem to have a choice. She needed to be honest. No more holding back the inevitable truth, as much as it pained her. She would find out eventually, anyways.

"Simon… Actually Simon was…" Millianna hesitated to answer. It brought back one of the most unpleasant memories of her life. However, the truth must spill, and spill now.

"What?! What happened to Onii-chan?!" Kagura was growing more exasperated.

 _Did something bad happen to him? NO! I can't accept that! Simon promised to see me master the sword, and I'm getting better every day! He's alive! He has to be!_ Kagura screamed in her head.

"Simon… was killed on the Tower. He sacrificed himself to help us escape it. I'm sorry…" Millianna did her best to remain composed. This was far too difficult to let out.

Kagura's hope vanished without a trace, replacing itself with grief and despair. She refused to accept this news.

"NO! HE'S NOT DEAD! IT HAS TO BE A DIFFERENT SIMON! ONII-CHAN ISN'T DEAD! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!" Kagura started screaming as tears started escaping her eyes.

Shou and Wally heard Kagura's screams. They turned to Millianna, who was still trying to stay composed.

"Millianna, what did you do to her? Why is she screaming?" Shou asked.

"She knew Simon, Shou-chan! I told her what happened to him!" Millianna answered.

Shou and Wally gasped. This girl knew Simon? THE Simon that helped Erza and them escape the Tower of Heaven? Their expressions fell to grief and mourning.

"Simon-nii-chan was one of the bravest men I've ever known. Without him, we wouldn't have escaped the Tower, and he opened our eyes on a lot of things," Shou mourned, looking back on that fateful day.

"Yes, he was a dandy among dandies," Wally covered his eyes with his hat and mourned as well.

Kagura fell to her knees, tears freely trickling down her cheeks like raindrops on a window. She had no reason to live anymore. Simon was the one person that cared for her when she was little. She spent the last ten years searching for him in hopes of rebuilding their lives. She lived off of that one promise Simon made to her that day, that fateful day that changed her life.

"Onii-chan… is dead… But he promised… He promised that he would be there when I master the sword… ONII-CHAN!" Kagura burst into tears as she suddenly pulled Millianna into a hug. Millianna was surprised at this as tears appeared in her own eyes. Still, she returned the hug as she let Kagura cry her heart out.

Thirty minutes had passed. Shou and Wally returned to work, wanting to make progress with their shack, and wanting to get their minds from the Tower. The two women went off to a small field of grass close by. Millianna watched as Kagura was still mourning her older brother's death. She made a makeshift little grave made of rocks and sticks. She carved "Simon Mikazuchi, My Onii-chan" with her fingers.

Suddenly, Kagura turned around, her aura changing.

"Millianna, how did Onii-chan die?" Kagura asked, her bangs covering her eyes. Her voice changed from innocent to venomous in the snap of a finger.

Millianna thought back to the Tower after Etherion hit it, back to what Erza told the group when she and Natsu returned from the destroyed Tower.

"He was murdered by a man named Jellal Fernandes. Jellal enslaved us, deceived us, and toyed with us for eight years… He hurt Er-chan and he killed Simon," Millianna finally replied, growling at the memory.

"Jellal… Fernandes…" Kagura breathed. So, Simon wasn't just murdered; he was enslaved, betrayed, and used. This man, Jellal Fernandes, enslaved this young cat woman and murdered a man who valiantly sacrificed himself to save them. Unforgiveable… UNFORGIVEABLE!

"So Jellal Fernandes… you are the man responsible for Onii-chan's suffering. You enslaved these poor people that you used to call your friends… Onii-chan… was your friend, and you KILLED HIM?! " Kagura's whole being was replaced by rage. Her venomous voice had murderous intent etched all over. It intimidated Millianna. She was so delicate and so shy when she first got there, and now she was a whole new person.

"Jellal Fernandes… I will stop at nothing to make you pay for your unforgiveable deeds. In the name of Simon, I will master the sword, and I will use my mastery to hunt you down… I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU FOR TAKING MY BROTHER AWAY FROM ME! MARK MY WORDS JELLAL FERNANDES! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" Kagura screamed into the sky as pure rage and hatred filled her once sensitive and delicate heart.

The young woman intimidated Millianna, but she couldn't blame her. She wanted revenge on Jellal too for all he did to her, Simon, Shou, Wally, and Erza.

"Millianna…" Kagura turned to Millianna with a bloodthirsty and enraged expression. Millianna turned to her.

"Do you want revenge on Jellal as well?" Kagura asked, her eyes peering down to Millianna's soul.

Millianna said nothing. She only nodded. As much as Erza and the others would disapprove of her decision, it was true that she wanted to make that man pay for his deeds.

"Then join my guild, Mermaid Heel. Join me, and we can bring this man the brutal death that he deserves. We must practice until our bodies give out," Kagura told the cat girl before turning back to the Mermaid Heel guild, a frightening glare permanently printed on her face. Millianna hesitated for a minute before following Kagura.

As she walked back to her guild, Kagura's scowl grew more and more intimidating. She was turning into a monster, a monster thirsty for blood and death.

* * *

 **Fiore, Back to Present**

Kagura gasped as she sat up from her nightmare. She dreamed of herself finding out about Simon's demise. She was shaking profusely in fear and panting to the point of near-hyperventilation. That was the day she lost her innocence, the day when she became a monster. She was reminded time and time again of her old self. Now that she knew more about Simon and Jellal, she did not want to return to her old ways. In fact, she feared it with her whole being now. Erza would be ashamed of her if she reverted back. Simon and her mother would be ashamed of her for choosing that path again. If it weren't for Erza pushing her towards change, she would've been a murderer.

Kagura looked around for Erza, who wasn't in the room. Ever since the first night, it was getting more normal for the Mermaid to sleep with Erza. It felt more natural, and both swordswomen were getting more comfortable with each other, growing as close to being real sisters as they could.

Assuming Erza was already in the guildhall, Kagura quickly got ready and headed down.

Five days passed by since the shopping spree. Erza spent most of her time inside the guildhall waiting out the rain by catching up with Kagura and Millianna and telling stories of her past experiences in Fairy Tail with the younger women of the guild. Usually she would tell stories about some jobs and some funny childhood stories involving her, Kagura and Simon. All of the guild members were shocked in hearing that Kagura was a childhood friend of Erza, but it wasn't hard to believe seeing how similar they both were.

As Erza told her stories to the guild's newer recruits, Kagura couldn't help but listen in. She hoped to make Mermaid Heel as close a family as Fairy Tail one day. Whenever a serious threat came up, Fairy Tail would band together as a guild and face these threats, not faltering for a second. Kagura smiled slightly, remembering her dream of the whole Tower of Heaven group finding her and joining Fairy Tail together. She would've loved being a member if that were the case. But as a nonbeliever of fate, Kagura decided to put that ideal life aside, as reluctant as she was in doing so.

Erza was glad to see that Kagura was slowly opening up to her fellow guild mates. The purple-haired mage was smiling and chiming in playfully whenever Erza told a childhood story about them. She even heard Kagura giggle a bit when she did so. Erza was a bit sad that Kagura was hiding her happier side from the young members in order to keep up her reputation as the cool emotionless ace of Mermaid Heel, but this was a start. Even Millianna was surprised that her once apathetic team captain was getting a bit more talkative.

Kagura entered the Mermaid Heel guildhall, which was surprisingly already active as early as it was. It was only the crack of dawn. The sun's rays were barely poking out of the horizon, and the sky was unleashing a beautiful purple resembling Kagura's hair. She looked around and noticed Erza, Millianna, and a small circle of young guild members who were listening in on another one of Erza's stories.

"So Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and I were cleaning the guild's library and Lucy found this magical book…" Erza tried to contain her laughter as she told the story.

Kagura zoned out as Erza told her next story. She went back to her nightmare, the flashback to when she found out about Simon's demise.

Erza glanced at Kagura, who was shaking, as if in fear of something that happened to her. What was wrong with Kagura? Did something happen to her? Did she have a nightmare? Erza looked back at the others, who were all still eager for her to continue her story. Erza smiled with reassurance and continued her story. She'll confront Kagura about this after the story.

The young guild members and Millianna laughed and cheered as Erza continued narrating her story. Kagura's shaking mellowed after a while, but the fear was still there. She didn't want anyone to be concerned over her, but she knew Erza could read her like a book. After the story, Titania would probably confront her about the matter. Kagura shook her head and sighed. She laid her head on the table and listened in on Erza's story. A few minutes later, Kagura dozed off in exhaustion.

After dismissing everyone who listened to her story, Erza walked over to Kagura, whose head was resting on her arms on the table. She shook her sleeping 'sister' awake.

"So what's wrong, Kagura?" Erza asked.

"Huh?" Kagura yawned groggily.

"You were shaking earlier. Did something happen? Did you have a nightmare?" Erza pointed out.

There's no use hiding it. Erza would just read her and tell she was lying.

"Yes. I had a nightmare. A pretty bad one," Kagura admitted.

"Tell me about it, if you can," Erza requested.

Kagura took a few deep breaths as she thought back to her nightmare. She started shaking slightly again, but she excused it as an effect of hunger.

She told Erza everything. Erza took in all the information as her 'sister' went into detail about her nightmare. Of all nightmares, flashback nightmares were some of the worst types of nightmare because they actually happened in the past. She knew about this all too well. Even to this day, the redhead would occasionally have nightmares from the Tower of Heaven. These nightmares would constantly remind her of the hell she went through, and they would make sure she never forgot what happened.

To think Kagura was so shy and innocent before finding out about Simon's death. She used to be that same delicate little girl Erza saved in Rosemary. Their goal was to revive some of Kagura's delicate self, and by letting some of the stress and fear go, Kagura was well on her way to achieving that goal.

"And to think that now almost everything I believed in throughout those seven years was wrong. It's not Millianna's fault, nor is it yours. It's probably a life lesson for me to not be so naïve, and to not turn to revenge, no matter how much I've lost and no matter how angry I become. You say that none of my life was a waste, but it's hard to believe that after what happened," Kagura concluded. A single spiteful tear trickled down Kagura's cheek. She smirked as she felt the tear trail. Life must hate her, since it seemed to force her to never forget her childhood trauma.

Erza smiled and placed a consoling hand on Kagura's shoulder, wiping away the tear.

"It's alright. I understand what you're going through, and while I'm here to help you, I'm actually helping myself as well. I have my own nightmares that remind me of my past. We just have to fight the pain and use them as motivation to become stronger. We always learn from our struggles. Isn't that motivation enough?" Erza assured. Kagura smiled. It's laughable how many times Erza had to comfort and assure her, but it's all true nonetheless.

"Breakfast is starting soon. Let's get your mind off everything and enjoy ourselves for a while," Erza gestured Kagura to the breakfast line. Kagura nodded and followed her 'big sis'.

* * *

Breakfast went by quickly and uneventfully. Kagura's team was chatting about some nonsense about random guild members' romantic relationships with men from other guilds. Erza was still taking in the details of Kagura's nightmare, while Kagura was thinking about her training session with her team and Erza. She wasn't going to deny that she was actually eager to show Erza her improvements since her performance at the Games. She was also excited to vent some of her anger on her team for mocking her and Erza since Erza came to Mermaid Heel.

Kagura left the guildhall early to prepare for her training. Erza left a few minutes later to find the guild's training area. Kagura's team glanced at the two swordswomen in fear, just now remembering that Kagura was going to unleash her wrath on them in a matter of hours.

With Master Anita's help, Erza headed to Mermaid Heel's training grounds. It was full of training dummies, obstacle courses, sparring rings, and ranges. What intrigued the Requip Mage the most was the special portal-like door that revealed an area that resembled a forest. It looked like it was powered by special lacrima that mimic terrains and locations, similar to the mimicked Crocus on the fifth day of the Games.

Erza looked around for Kagura. Because it was breakfast and it was still early out, the training ground was virtually empty, with the exception of a few young members and aspiring mages.

Suddenly, Erza felt heavy jolts and sensed incredible magic power from the faux forest terrain. She headed through the forest and noticed Kagura practicing her Gravity Magic. She looked like she was just getting started, because she didn't seem to have broken a sweat yet. Out of nowhere, Erza started to float. Erza's eyes widened as she was lifted dozens of feet in the air.

"Hoh? Trying to sneak up on me, Nee-san?" Kagura asked, smirking as she turned around to the redhead.

"Kagura! How did you…" Erza asked, surprised that the Mermaid ace could sense her from that far away.

"Let's just say I felt a small change in the gravitational flow. Being a Gravity Mage, I can now sense when someone comes near," Kagura explained.

 _Impressive…_ Erza thought. Kagura seemed like a different person now. She was so sensitive and in need of help this morning, but she was so confident and authoritative now. Her attitude was no longer one of empathy or indifference. Her stoicism was radiating more than ever in Erza's time at Mermaid Heel.

Kagura took a stance, readying her still sheathed Archenemy.

"How about a nice battle of swordplay? No magic, just the sword," Kagura suggested.

No need to reply. Titania was pumped. She requipped Demon Blade Crimson Sakura as a sign that she accepted her 'sister's' offer.

The two swordswomen stared at each other, both of them smirking like mischievous children about to sneak out of their homes for the first time. In not even a blink of an eye, the two swords clashed with enough force to make an immense circular shockwave, resulting in a large crater around the women.

The sword battle went on for a good hour, yet neither Erza nor Kagura were even that tired. Kagura decided to take it up a notch. With their swords locked, Kagura finally took a chance to speak.

"Nee-san, how about we step up the difficulty?" Kagura asked. She backed off as she took something out of her pocket. It looked like a blindfold. She tied it around her eyes and took another stance.

"Oh? Are you underestimating me, little sis?" Erza asked, playing along.

"Not at all. This is a training session. After all, you did defeat me during our last battle," Kagura denied.

Erza knew Kagura well enough to know that she wasn't bluffing. She covered her eyesight, but as she demonstrated earlier, she could sense Erza's magical and gravitational presence. Because of this, Erza had to refrain from rushing in. She wondered if ranged weapons could work. Kagura should not be able to sense something being thrown at her, and even if she could, she should not be quick enough to be able to react to it.

Erza requipped a random sword and threw it as quickly and powerfully as she could. Kagura suddenly turned toward a disturbance in her gravitation field. She quickly slashed in the direction of the disturbance, and the thrown sword broke in half and froze mid-air before dropping to the ground. Erza gasped, very impressed and surprised at how Kagura was able to detect and react so quickly. Kagura smirked as she took her stance again.

"Playing dirty? My, my, you need to be punished," Kagura said. She never displayed this much emotion in a battle before, let alone a practice. It was probably because Erza was the opponent, and because she impressed herself at her improvements magically and effectively.

Erza was caught by surprise yet again by Kagura's incredible speed capabilities, as the Mermaid charged in.

" **Archenemy: Blunt Force Form** " Kagura yelled.

In almost no time at all, they were face to face as Kagura slashed Archenemy, sending Erza flying.

Erza fell on her back as Kagura charged in again.

" **Archenemy: Strong Form** " Kagura said as she landed in the source of her gravitational disturbance.

Erza grunted in pain as she stood up from the attack. Kagura, with her blindfold still on, took another stance as she readied her sword.

"You have indeed improved a lot, Kagura. I am very impressed," Erza praised as she took a breather.

"Thank you, Nee-san. It truly means a lot coming from you," Kagura smirked, taking off her blindfold.

It was at this moment when Erza decided that she had to take her chances against Kagura. The redhead charged right in, requipping to Armadura as she speedily rushed to the Mermaid ace's position.

Kagura almost didn't react in time, glancing straight at Erza's general direction with a completely blank expression.

She raised Archenemy right when Erza attempted to slash at her. Erza broke the sword lock and managed to hit Kagura on her left love handle. Kagura recovered quickly.

" **Archenemy: Slashing Form"** Kagura said, slashing horizontally. The magical force the still sheathed sword emitted covered the entire portion of the forest, almost completely covering Kagura's field of vision. Erza managed to barely dodge the slash, but was hit by a falling tree. The redhead recovered by slashing the tree bark that landed on her with Armadura. She turned around realizing that all the trees behind her were cut clean in half by the slash.

Erza instinctively raised her sword as Kagura, who took the opportunity to charge in for another attack, caught her off guard. The two swordswomen found each other in another sword lock.

Kagura broke the sword lock by head-butting Erza like she did in the Games. The purple-haired mage then used Archenemy to sweep Erza off her feet. Erza quickly requipped to her Flight Armor so she could land safely, but Kagura was all too ready.

" **Archenemy: Rapid Slash Form"** Kagura suddenly slashed over a dozen times in the blink of an eye. Erza was blown back but recovered quickly.

" **Sonic Claw"** Erza yelled as she tried to come back with a rapid slashing technique of her own.

It seemed like Erza didn't learn her lesson from the Games. Kagura quickly and easily dodged the rapid attack and countered with a blunt slash of her sheathed blade.

Instantly, Erza's Flight Armor was torn apart, and Erza grunted in pain as she plummeted to the ground. She eventually recovered before Kagura could do more damage, requipping to Heaven's Wheel Armor.

 _I never used this on Kagura yet, and I might have to attack with multiple swords, because one sword doesn't seem like enough,_ Erza thought as she changed tactics.

" **Blumenblatt!** " Erza yelled as she flew into the air and rapidly spawned dozens of different wielded weapons, from swords to axes to maces. However, Kagura's smirk never disappeared. She jumped into the air and effectively dodged every single weapon coming at her.

" **Archenemy: Spinning Form** " Kagura held Archenemy in front of her and spun rapidly to resemble a tornado. Erza dodged the move by a hair.

" **Pentagram Sword** " Erza slashed in a specific shape and hit Kagura very effectively. Her clothes were torn and she grunted loudly in pain. She landed softly, but struggled for a moment to stand back up. She panted for another moment. She used up some energy with the recent attacks, but she still had a lot of power left in her. It took a lot more than one somewhat effective move to take out the ace of Mermaid Heel.

Erza landed and requipped to her Purgatory Armor. This practice battle was quickly turning into a full on battle, not that either swordswoman complained. In fact, it was a breath of fresh air for both of them from the depression, drama, and wackiness of the last six days.

"Are you tired yet, Kagura? We still need to discipline your team after this," Erza asked.

"How about we use just one magic move each as a finisher for this practice session," Kagura suggested.

Erza simply nodded and requipped to Demon Blade Crimson Blossom again. This sword was meant to finish foes off. She had beaten Kagura with it before, but since then, Erza improved in speed, power, and performance, so there's no telling what the outcome would be.

Moments later, both swordswomen charged at each other. Erza was going to perform the same slash that bested Kagura during their fight in the Games. Kagura noticed this.

 _So she's using that again. Interesting…_ Kagura thought. Her mind thought back to something she read a few weeks back. _Nee-san's move involves putting all her magical power into a single attack. She has beaten me with this move in the Games. The slash was so quick that it's tough to follow with your own eyes, especially when you're battling her. But I have a trump card…_

Kagura smirked as time seemed to slow down.

" **Gravity Magic Secret Art: Time Dilation"** She quickly centered her own gravity, making the space around her much heavier and denser.

 _If I recall correctly, gravity has the ability to stretch time, but only barely. The closer someone gets to me, the slower time passes. Now let's see when this slash takes place._

Erza raised her sword up as she readied the slash.

 _There._ Kagura slashed back more quickly. Before she could realize what happened, Erza found herself launched into the air, wide eyed that someone actually dodged her strongest and quickest finishing move.

Kagura walked over to where Erza landed and offered a hand.

"So how did I do, Nee-san?" Kagura asked.

"I… How did you dodge Benizakura? Nobody has done it before," Erza replied, still wide eyed at what happened.

"It's just something I learned recently. Gravity can barely affect time. Time slows slightly when there's a stronger gravitational center present. Time is only affected in milliseconds or even nanoseconds, but those milliseconds always matter in a battle. I centered my own gravity so I could see when you raise your sword for an attack, and I countered," Kagura explained.

"It is truly an impressive move. You really have improved a lot since we last battled. Why didn't you use this move when we fought over the cake?" Erza praised.

"Because I didn't know how effective it would be at the time, and I wasn't thinking straight," Kagura shivered in want at the mention at the strawberry cheesecake.

"Nevertheless, you really have gotten better since the Games. You should show this confidence and power away from battle as well," Erza praised. Kagura smiled, one of her main goals achieved.

Over a half hour passed since their sword battle. Their energy was quickly growing back to them. Now to wait for the rest of Kagura's team. The two swordswomen were just sitting on a tree stump silently thinking to themselves.

Erza suddenly started thinking of something. She wondered what Kagura's team was in relation to Kagura. Erza thought back to her old team and how close they were as friends, her friendships with Natsu and Gray dating back to when they were all children. Lucy and Wendy were friendly and they very quickly grew on Erza, and now she considered them just as close to her as Natsu and Gray. So what about Kagura's team? Were Araña, Risley, and Beth close friends? Were they mere volunteers? Did Master Anita or Kagura herself handpick them?

"Kagura…" Erza lightly tapped Kagura's shoulder.

"What's your relation to your teammates, other than Millianna that is?" Erza asked.

Kagura thought back for a moment.

"Beth was a fairly new member prior to the Games. I saw potential in her as a support and defense mage. Her Vegetable Magic may not seem so interesting or powerful, but in many battles, even some of the weakest and uninteresting forms of magic will show prowess in different forms. She's kind, helpful, enthusiastic, and determined to get stronger, a perfect fit for Mermaid Heel. Araña is a childhood friend of mine. I've known her since the night you saved me in Rosemary. Master took her in after her parents were killed on her job prior to taking me in. She had no interest in becoming guild master, so she was perfectly fine with Master training me to become her successor. Araña's Thread Magic is useful in catching, detaining, and trapping enemies that don't have a chance to fight back. She's more interested in cooking and modeling than fighting. I listen to her rambling and ranting about critics and two-timing men. Even in my angry days, I tried not to laugh at how ridiculous and stupid her stories were. Araña's sarcastic and in some ways flirtatious and seductive. She tries her best to impress me and she tries to be the best cook in the guild even though she's far from it. She cares for the guild deeply and acts like a big sister to many of the members, being a veteran of the guild. She's always been there for me, and I can't let her loyalty go ignored. That's why she's in my team. Risley was my first and only actual pupil. I first met her on one of my jobs. She was intrigued by my Gravity Change Magic, and asked me to take her to the guild and learn from me. Since then, she's learned a lot in terms of Gravity Magic. As you've observed, she can use her magic to change her own body weight and appearance. I offered to teach her more, but she decided to train by herself to improve herself. She takes pride in being chubby, and she sees me as an inspiration and a role model. That pride, loyalty, and motivation make her an essential member in my team. She fit in so well, and I do not regret recruiting her. Everyone on my team has some sort of importance to me. I train and test them regularly in order to show their improvement as mages and as women. In turn, they help me reach what was left of my human side. Without them, I could very well have been a murderer. I would have been a far worse person than I was at the Games if it weren't for my team. Come to think of it, I feel bad that I haven't complimented them or paid attention to them enough. They admired me and praised me, but I didn't reciprocate any of that. I didn't even so much as thank them for seeing me as a normal woman and a role model for them. I've neglected them all these years in the name of revenge…" Kagura trailed off as she looked down in shame for her past actions. She trained them, but that was the extent of her attention to her team. If she at least complimented them for their determination and their will to be stronger mages and stronger women, maybe she would have been a nicer and less angry person.

Erza expected as much. Kagura's team was about equal to her own in terms of importance and impact to their lives. When Kagura finally tells the full story to her team, this problem will be settled. Kagura probably knew this as well.

Kagura waited for it. She waited for more assuring words and wisdom from Titania. Her pride slowly diminished after every time she had to be comforted by Erza. It showed that the purple haired woman was far more broken and insecure than she initially thought. Her anger negatively impacted her life more than she believed at first. At the start, Kagura believed that her anger just impacted her personality and her motivation. Since Erza came, it showed that Kagura's angry phase impacted practically everything about her.

Testing the Mermaid's knowledge, Erza pulled Kagura into a comforting hug of assurance. Erza wanted her 'sister' to know that she was there for her, and she wanted Kagura to find the solution herself. In turn, the Gravity Change Mage Kagura was surprised. Erza was trying to send a message to her, and she knew that at least. The Mermaid thought for a moment. She told the redhead that her anger caused her to ignore her team and keep them in the dark. Since she was on the road to recovery, Kagura now had the opportunity to let them know how important they were to her, and she could tell them everything that happened to her. If they truly cared for her, they would feel bad for their leader and promise to be there for her when she needed them most. Kagura closed her eyes, now realizing what Erza was conveying. Erza also probably made the message a hug to ensure that she would support and be there for her for the time being.

Now getting the message, Kagura smiled and tightened the hug on her end. Erza smiled back and separated from the hug slightly, keeping her arms on the Mermaid's shoulders.

"Since I'm trying to change my personality, they'll know that I've cared about them, and they'll understand why I reluctantly neglected them. Is that what you were conveying?" Kagura asked just to make sure.

Erza nodded as she pulled in for another quick hug. She took another moment to stare at Kagura, who had an optimistic and hopeful smile on her face. Together with the few rays of pseudo-sunlight glowing over her, Kagura was breathtakingly beautiful when she smiled. If she only smiled more often, she would be described as a demigoddess. When she first arrived at Mermaid Heel, Erza promised that she would be there when Kagura had a genuine smile on her face. She didn't expect it to come so quickly, and she knew that Kagura's smile was only an optimistic and hopeful one. Her smile was like a soldier's smile when he or she finds out that the war was turned over in his or her group's favor. The smile was hopeful, but it still was not genuinely happy and free from all sin. Sure she was happy now, but the journey was far from over. In fact, there's no telling how long it would take. All both swordswomen knew was that progress was made, and made quickly.

Silence once again filled the air between the two women. They weren't too sure what to talk about next after that last conversation. A thought suddenly popped into Erza.

"Kagura, have you heard about what happened to Minerva?" Erza asked. If there was one person that Kagura hated probably more than Jellal, it was going to be Minerva. If Kagura does hate her, Erza honestly could not blame her. After what the Sabretooth mage did to Kagura and Millianna, it was perfectly understandable that they would hate her. In fact, it was possible that all of Mermaid Heel hates Minerva for her actions throughout the Games, especially after the harm she caused to Mermaid Heel in particular.

Kagura dropped her hopeful smile to Erza's dismay. Even worse, Kagura's expression fell into a frightening glare at the ground.

"Yes. I heard that she joined Tartarus. Evil skanks will always be evil skanks. I know that you said revenge is wrong, but the things she did to me, Millianna, and my guild are far more unforgivable than anything Jellal had ever done to me," Kagura growled.

Erza gasped and stared at her 'sister' in worry, slight disappointment, and slight fear. The anger was still there all right. It was simply redirected at a different person. It also seemed like the news hadn't spread that Minerva turned over a new leaf and rejoined Sabretooth.

"Kagura, I understand your anger. Really, I do. I got angry for her actions as well. But trust me when I say this. When I faced her in Tartarus, I found out why she was acting so evil and why she had such a severe superiority complex. I confronted her about it all, telling her that everyone in Sabretooth still cared for her, and that she was missed and hoped that she would return to their guild. When Sting and Rogue showed up, that's when Minerva realized that she was loved, and now she's probably a whole different person than what she was in the Games. Now, I'm guessing that she wants to apologize to you, Millianna, and the rest of Mermaid Heel for what she did," Erza said, hoping that Kagura would at least lay off some of her grudge.

"If what you say is true, then I won't kill her, at least not right away. The next time you see her, tell her that I'll be keeping a close eye on her. If she even thinks about betraying us, I will shove my sword through her trachea and watch her drown in her own blood. That's a promise, and it's a promise I will lay down my life to keep," Kagura said bluntly. Her threat sent ice-cold chills down Erza's spine. That was a graphic and specific threat, and Kagura sounded dead serious.

"I'm sure you two will warm up to each other eventually. I saw in Minerva's eyes that she was a very nice and caring person deep down, and that her evil acts were forced upon by her father's manipulation and abuse," Erza assured.

Kagura's expression calmed to indifference. It didn't have that threatening angry aura like her indifferent expression in the Games, but it was more blank and skeptical.

* * *

Another ten minutes passed. Erza and Kagura would occasionally talk about their plans for the next few days. The delayed beach trip was finally possible, but the sand was still too damp and the weather was still a tad bit too cold for a visit. Hopefully in another week, they could finally go to the beach and show off their still mint swimsuits.

Finally, four silhouettes appeared in the distance. Eventually, they were recognized as the rest of Kagura's team. Millianna had her usual oblivious smile while Risley, Araña, and Beth were scared out of their minds.

"Er-chan! Kagura-chan! We're all here!" Millianna yelled as they arrived with the two swordswomen.

Araña and Risley looked at their surroundings. There were dozens of trees cut clean in half, craters filled the ground, and slash marks were literally everywhere. Those two did all that? And even worse, neither of them looked that tired.

"What happened here?" Beth asked.

Erza and Kagura glanced at each other.

"Training," the two swordswomen replied simultaneously. Their answer just made the three Mermaid Heel mages even more frightened. They looked rested and neither of them looked that beat up.

"Well, it's good to see you four made it to the training grounds. We haven't trained in the last week, and we should never become rusty. I would like to add that Erza here will be watching us practice for now. If you manage to hold your own against me alone, then I will summon her to fight alongside me. Also, this is your punishment for your taunting and mocking. Don't think I have forgotten," Kagura explained as she took a stance, Archenemy in hand.

"Now, come at me," Kagura gestured her team, smirking.

Since she was told to watch, Erza did so as she stared at the tense atmosphere between Kagura and her team. Millianna stared at the other three. Araña gulped in extreme fright. Beth hid behind Risley, who took on her chubby form and got ready. The pure concentration on Kagura's part intrigued Erza. She was taught so well to focus and kill emotions in battle. She was reading her opponents, predicting every possible scenario in which her teammates charge toward her.

With little choice, Risley stepped forward while Beth and Araña reached out to her with doubt, concern, and fear filling their bodies.

"If neither of you want to start out, I guess I'll do it," Risley reluctantly made a battle stance.

Even though Kagura was the ace of Mermaid Heel, and her magical power and battle experience absolutely trumps Risley in almost every way, due to her weight and her figure, Risley's gravity was stronger than Kagura's. Despite this, Risley was at an extreme disadvantage.

"Don't underestimate me, Kagura! You know damn well that the chubby don't go down easily!" Risley smirked, her confidence growing. Millianna stood by her. Since this was training, and since she was hopeful to become at a similar power level as Erza and Kagura, the cat girl decided to get in on as much action as she could.

"I'm by your side, Risley-chan!" Millianna smiled as she took a battle stance.

 _Hoh? Risley and Millianna will be the ones to make the first move? Interesting…_ Kagura thought. Risley's Gravity Magic in conjunction to Millianna's Binding Magic was a combination that should not be taken so lightly. Millianna's cat binds cancel magic, and the stronger she gets, the more dangerous those binds get. Kagura saw how gradually more powerful the cat girl and her magic became. In their last job together, Millianna discovered that her binds had the ability to not only cancel magic power, but slowly deplete it as well. Risley's magic was stronger than Kagura's, so therefore Kagura's Gravity Change will not have much of an effect on Risley, but vice versa, Risley's Gravity Magic can affect Kagura. Gravity moves in favor of the object with higher mass, so Kagura was in a slight disadvantage in the magic department. However, Kagura always preferred the sword, saving her magic for more serious situations.

Kagura then noticed something else. Araña was no longer by Beth's side. The Mermaid ace glared and looked around quickly for signs of the Thread Mage. She spotted Araña back by Millianna and Risley, then saw that Araña set web traps all around the battleground. Kagura knew this would happen, but she didn't expect the odds to be closer than once thought. Araña's web could trap almost anybody, and her attacks were average in effectiveness, but still effective nonetheless. Her speed was also a factor to be considered. She may not look it, but Araña's speed capabilities were surprisingly close to Kagura's own, at least factoring out Kagura's Gravity Change.

 _I have trained them well… Looks like I should not hold back during this session,_ Kagura kept her smirk as she charged in.

Erza looked at the scene in amazement. Kagura still looked very confident that she could take her team on, yet Kagura's team had great tactics and synergies in their own right. It was a four versus one battle, so Kagura had to make sure her attacks were quick, powerful, and effective.

" **Kitten Blast!"** Millianna shouted as she activated a blinding bind attack. Kagura shielded her eyes with her sword, but she found herself stuck in one of Araña's web traps.

Risley took the opportunity to attack, but Kagura used Archenemy to cut her way out of Araña's trap.

" **Archenemy: Strong Form"** Kagura enchanted as she collided with Risley, who fell all the way back to Millianna, Beth, and Araña like a bowling ball.

" **Lettuce Shield!"** Beth stepped in front of Araña and Millianna and grew a massive lettuce that was used as a shield. The lettuce shield caught Risley with ease. Araña and Beth then ran forward.

" **Web Shot!"**

" **Carrot Missile!"**

Two sets of barrages were sent Kagura's way. Surprisingly, the webs wrapped around the carrots in a perfect combination. So not only will the carrots be simple missiles, but they now have the ability to stick to the opponent and render them temporarily immobile.

That wasn't the case for Kagura, however. She held Archenemy in front of her and the sword turned red-orange.

A magic circle that was slightly taller than Kagura herself appeared in front of Kagura, activating gravity change. Then, another magic circle stacked in front of the first circle.

"Multi-layered magic!" Erza gasped in surprise and in awe. _Kagura learned how to do that? Did she hold back during our battle?_ Erza thought. She then recalled what Master Anita told her the second day of Erza's visit. Elena, Kagura's deceased mother, specialized in Elemental Gravity Magic. Kagura… was using her mother's magic!

The space the circles occupied then combusted into flames, burning the web-surfaced carrot missiles into ashes, and hitting and burning Araña and Beth in the process.

Millianna quickly ran to her two downed teammates, while Risley stared at her team captain in shock and in fear at what just happened.

"Kagura… when did you learn that?!" Risley asked, still in awe.

"Kaasan…" Kagura replied with a barely audible whisper.

No holding back… Kagura charged in again.

"Are you alright, girls?" Millianna asked Araña and Beth.

"We're fine. We were just caught by surprise," Araña answered. Beth nodded in agreement. In all honesty, who knew Kagura would use her mother's magic? Even if they did know, who would expect her to use it in a practice session?

Erza looked around to see that some of the other Mermaid Heel members and aspiring mages just outside the tree line spectating the practice session. Who can blame them? The ace of Mermaid Heel against her own team was quite the interesting battle. Most of them were cheering for Kagura, and they stared in awe of Kagura's magical power.

Millianna stepped forward while Risley covered for Araña and Beth.

" **Cat Binding Tube: Lots of them!"** Another barrage attack came Kagura's way, but this time, Millianna's infamous binding tubes. It takes a lot more than that to take Kagura Mikazuchi out.

Kagura thrust herself forward with her gravity and slashed the tubes apart piece by piece. She then jumped up into the sky to the point where she was just a speck in the sky.

The Mermaid ace altered her gravity again, and plummeted to the ground like an explosive bomb ready to explode on impact.

As a fellow Gravity Mage, only Risley knew what Kagura was about to do.

"MILLIANNA! GET OUT OF THERE!" The chubby mage yelled.

Despite this, Millianna was so confused, shocked, and frightened that her feet were involuntarily glued to the ground as her team captain impacted the ground so hard that the entire forest shook like a severe earthquake. Many of the Mermaid Heel members flinched and screamed at the waves of jolts Kagura caused. Erza lost her balance and fell back before catching herself at the last moment.

"Impressive… Kagura altered her own gravity and caused ripples in the virtual tectonic plates," Erza commented.

"So that means…" Beth added.

"Kagura can cause earthquakes with her gravity," Risley finished. The chubby mage knew that her base gravity was stronger than Kagura's due to her weight, but Kagura had complete control and balance, which she utilizes when she uses her Gravity Magic. In turn, Kagura's manipulation of gravity can cause her gravity to be so powerful that it can somehow reach the tectonic plates and cause an earthquake.

Kagura emerged from the rather large crater she created, still smirking.

Millianna crawled out of the crater close by, fear and relief on her face.

"Kagura-chan… you almost gave me a heart attack! That move would have killed me!" Millianna shouted as she huddled into fetal position.

Kagura took some time to answer, panting and sweating profusely.

"You got so lucky that you dodged that. I was testing you on how to dodge a powerful attack that has a large blast radius," Kagura said, "To make things a bit easier for you all, I have decided to only use the sword for now. If this proves too easy for you girls, I will no longer hold back."

Risley, being the only one left that was neither injured nor borderline traumatized, stepped forward again.

"Can you girls still fight?" Risley asked the other three.

"I just need a moment, but I can still fight," Millianna responded, grinning as she sat down for a few moments.

"I can still put up some defenses," Beth replied, giving a thumbs-up.

"I'll add to the defenses. Kagura did a number on me," Araña admitted.

"Then you three rest, I'll be the main opponent for now. Let's come up with a quick plan," Risley smirked.

Erza was impressed at Risley and the others. They managed to last this long despite going against Kagura, their own ace who was more powerful than all of them combined. What Kagura said earlier was true, then. No matter how weak they looked, they all have a moment to shine, and they all have the potential and the motivation to be strong mages. Kagura chose her team wisely. It reminded Erza of her own team.

Risley altered her own gravity and charged in. Kagura remained stationary, not losing focus for a second. When Risley reached her, Kagura parried away and struck Risley's back with the blunt side of Archenemy. Risley smirked.

Millianna recovered and stood up. " **Cat Binding Tube!"** Millianna caught Kagura's sword-wielding hand with her tube. Kagura glared at the cat girl. She then found herself floating, dangling from the tube. Risley then flew up and kicked Kagura in the back, inflicting some damage as the chubby woman added gravitational force to her attack.

Kagura ricocheted and landed next to an intact tree, where Millianna summoned more binding tubes and wrapped Kagura's legs and her still trapped wielding arm. Kagura felt her magic depleting more quickly as she struggled to break the tubes.

" **Carrot Bomb"** Kagura heard Beth summon another barrage of carrots and hurl them Kagura's way.

Normally, these attacks would barely affect her, but since Millianna's tubes could drain her magic energy, and Kagura promised to only resort to her sword for the time being. She dropped Archenemy to her other hand, which she used to quickly slash the tubes that trapped her. She then slashed all of the carrot missiles heading her way. She panted as she took yet another battle stance.

"I will admit, all of you improved quite well, especially as a unit. That prompts me to step it up a few notches. Erza, come fight with me," Kagura praised.

Erza requipped to her base sword and her base Heart Kreuz Armor. The two swordswomen glanced at each other and smirked. Then, to everyone's shock, Kagura unsheathed her sword.

Since they all knew of the effects of Kagura's famed sword, everyone screamed in fright. Would Kagura seriously go that far in a mere practice session? Kagura's smirk answered that question.

Even Erza herself questioned Kagura's motives. She had trouble going against the unsheathed sword. One swipe can wipe out multiple buildings with little to no effort. Using it in practice against your team can potentially severely injure them.

Risley quickly backed off, with Millianna, Araña, and Beth huddling closely together in fear unlike they ever felt before.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, KAGURA?!" Araña screamed.

"Kagura-chan, are you really going to use that against us?" Millianna asked, hiding herself behind her hands.

"Well, I do need to practice with the sword unsheathed, and I didn't get to do so against Erza. Don't worry. I won't go all out when unsheathed. I never will unless there is a dire need to do so. I'll make sure myself that I won't endanger any lives. Now to test your durability," Kagura explained.

Erza took a stance next to Kagura, both swordswomen quietly speaking to their swords in their minds to feel their power. To a sword user, the sword is not just a trustworthy and powerful weapon, but it is an extension of the user's body in a sense. The sword can figuratively breathe, touch, see and hear along with the user. It's a lasting bond that should not be taken lightly.

The two swordswomen charged in, closing the distance between the two battling groups in almost no time.

" **Cat Binding Tube!"** Millianna activated multiple tubes and sent them against the swordswomen. Kagura swiftly jumped over the tubes, while Erza slashed them with little effort.

Kagura landed in front of Risley and took a stance, still as seriously focused as she was at the start of the battle. Risley tried to activate her Gravity Change Magic, but Kagura closed the gap too quickly, hitting Risley's stomach with Archenemy's handle. As Risley fell forward, Kagura slashed with the unsheathed sword, causing a dreadfully powerful slash-shaped wave that immediately knocked Risley down for the count.

The crowd gasped as Risley struggled to get up. They all caught a glimpse of just how strong their guild's ace was.

Erza quickly requipped into her Lightning Empress Armor and swung her lightning spear at Millianna, whose catlike agility and reflexes helped her dodge the swing with little effort.

" **Kitten Blast!"** Millianna sent a flash of blinding light into the air.

Erza's fake eye helped in blocking out some of the flash, but Millianna was still able to wrap Erza's arms with the tubes. The redhead quickly felt her energy draining.

 _So this is what happened to Kagura… Millianna's tubes can deplete magic now!_ Erza realized.

Suddenly, the tubes were broken. Erza, still recovering from Millianna's Kitten Blast, opened her real eye and saw Kagura standing next to her.

Erza still had a lot of magical power left in her, but Millianna's tubes did manage to drain a good bit of Erza's energy.

"Why don't we finish this?" Kagura asked Erza.

"As much as I still have in me, I guess it's fine," Erza replied.

"We'll have many more practice sessions after this, Erza," Kagura commented.

"I do look forward to all of them," Erza added.

Erza then requipped into her Flame Empress Armor, while Kagura gathered what was remaining of her magical energy.

Fearing the worst, Araña and Beth quickly set up multiple defenses made of web and various vegetables. Millianna backed up and tried to summon more tubes, which Erza burned with ease.

After Kagura gathered her magic, she took a stance and prepared for a finishing move.

" **Gravity Change: x150 Pressure"** Kagura activated an excruciatingly heavy gravity trap on her remaining teammates.

Despite the defenses somehow remaining intact, Araña, Beth, and Millianna fell to their knees. The pressure was too great for any of them to move.

Erza and Kagura glanced at each other before nodding. It is time to end this battle.

" **Unison Raid: Hellfire Slash!"** The two swordswomen yelled as they crossed their respective swords. They then slashed the crossed swords, causing powerful flames and an immense slash wave heading to the three teammates. The defenses that were put up provided virtually no safe haven from such an attack.

Millianna, Araña, and Beth tried as much as they could to flinch as the attack swept through them. Three anguishing screams of pain soon followed. The crowd watched in shock, concern, and awe as they saw three charred and bruised bodies lying on the once grassy ground.

Erza and Kagura panted for a moment before heading their way to the aftermath of their combined attack.

All three women that were hit by the unison raid were still fully conscious, groaning and moaning in severe pain.

"Kagura-chan…" Millianna groaned.

"You did well, Millianna. You all did. I discovered that your teamwork has escalated to new heights. I simply tested that. I also discovered that Erza and I are compatible in battle, so whatever strong enemy the two of us face in the future will have to brace themselves," Kagura complimented.

Millianna, Araña, and Beth all smiled at Kagura, even though she injured them quite a bit. Erza observed that their loyalty to Kagura and to Mermaid Heel was strong. Kagura also complimented her teammates as an impulse.

"We never thought we'd hear you compliment us after training. Usually, you would say that we wouldn't last long in a real battle and that we must train even harder," Araña observed.

"I was a different person back then. Until now, I didn't realize just how strong and loyal you girls are. Now, I want to change that. I want you all to know that you mean more to me than you think. Rest up and heal. You all have earned it," Kagura smiled at her teammates.

Risley limped over to her fallen comrades, giving them a hand and helping them walk out of the training building. Some of the spectating members came up to the four Mermaids and offered their help as well. They would most likely be taken to the infirmary.

Before they left, Kagura's team glanced back at their team captain with smiles on their faces. This was the first time Kagura actually complimented them, and it was the first time in what felt like forever that they saw her smile like that. It was quite the sight to see, because Kagura truly was beautiful when she smiled, and she really should smile more often.

Erza wrapped an arm around Kagura. Words couldn't describe how proud she was of her 'little sister' for saying something she had wanted to for a long time. Kagura took a huge step forward in her redemption for complimenting her teammates, and telling them how much they mattered to her. She turned to look at Kagura, who was actually beaming, another large weight lifted from her shoulders. She felt so different. She felt more like a human being, more like a woman. Most of all, she felt so happy inside. She never felt this happy in what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"I'm proud of you, Kagura. We all are. You are now speaking what's in your heart," Erza said.

"I've never felt so warm, Nee-san. Is this what it feels like to be genuinely happy?" Kagura asked.

"You're really getting there, Kagura. There's still some weight on your shoulders, but you're now feeling the effects of true happiness," Erza answered.

 _Then I look forward to being truly happy,_ Kagura thought.

The redhead gestured Kagura to exit the training grounds with her, and Kagura gladly followed. They never felt so close as 'sisters' before.

From a camera lacrima, Master Anita stared at the scene with a nostalgic smile on her face. Tears trickled down her eyes.

 _She has your smile, Elena-sama,_ Anita whispered to Elena indirectly. She started sobbing silently with joy at the sight.

Kagura was yet another step closer to redeeming herself and becoming Mermaid Heel's next guild master. It was only a matter of months or even weeks until that was accomplished. Things were really looking up for Kagura and Mermaid Heel.

* * *

Kagura was greeted with nothing but praise from her guild members when she and Erza returned to the guildhall. It was a shame most of them didn't get to see her smile. They complimented her fighting and magic skills, her strength, and her confidence during the battle. Kagura would usually shrug off these compliments, but she couldn't help but blush with slight embarrassment and happiness, muttering thanks to every compliment.

Erza observed this. She remembered the first day, when she faked her smile and only responded to some of the compliments. She seemed like whole new person now, and neither swordswoman wanted it any other way.

The rest of the day passed quickly and enthusiastically. Kagura escorted her team to the infirmary, where they recovered rather quickly. Despite kinda facing death against her, none of Kagura's teammates questioned nor complained about why Kagura went so hard in the training session. They instead complimented her strength and became even more motivated to be stronger. Kagura did apologize that she didn't hold back, and that she was simply caught in the moment. She also confessed that she simply wanted to test them and impress Erza, and she was very glad with the results.

Dinner was full of enthusiasm, many of the Mermaid Heel members talking about Kagura's strength and the practice session. Kagura wasn't used to this level of notoriety, at least when she actually paid attention to said notoriety. She used to get complimented all the time by subscribers of Sorcerers' Weekly every time there was an issue on her and her 'cool' personality, but she shrugged it off due to her promised vendetta.

After dinner, many of the Mermaid Heel members already headed off to bed or to party with their friends. Kagura's teammates chose to stay at the infirmary overnight. Erza made her way back to her apartment early, expecting another update with Jellal. Now, it was just Kagura, Master Anita, Zeeta, and Maria who were left at the guildhall.

"We saw your performance with Erza and your team. Your strength knows no bounds," Maria complimented.

"Thank you," Kagura replied, smiling at her mother's teammate.

"You used your mother's magic. It was a spectacle I never thought I'd see again. Your look of determination and your smile that followed resembled Elena-sama too well. You truly are Elena-sama's daughter, Kagura-san," Anita mentioned.

"Indeed. Your charisma, your versatility, your powerful aura. Your mother would have been very proud of your progress, Kagura-san," Zeeta added.

"Thank you, everyone," Kagura thanked again. She couldn't say anything more. Everything was so surreal for her.

"I know it's a lot to take in, Kagura-san. I know the feeling of loneliness and endless grief. In fact, we all do. We're also not used to feeling happy inside after so long. Just know that friends like Erza-san and Millianna-san are always going to be there when you need them most. We also have each other. We're a guild, so therefore we treat each other like family," Anita said as she pulled Kagura into a hug. Kagura wasn't the only person feeling surreal. Anita felt like she was hugging Elena. After all these years, she never thought she'd feel like she never lost her best friend.

Meanwhile, Kagura tried her best not to tear up. She was so happy for the first time in over fifteen years. Now her smile was causing others to smile. She didn't want this warm feeling to end. Ever.

* * *

Erza was at the balcony of her apartment, waiting for Jellal to show up. She could feel his magic, so he was close.

She looked back at what happened today. Kagura's improvement in her magical and battle skills, their conversation over Kagura's teammates and Minerva, Kagura's battle against her team, and her smile and shower of compliments afterwards. Erza was still so proud of Kagura for everything she showed her today. She was far from the angry version of her from the Games. She was now more confident and more heartfelt. She was making so much progress in changing her personality for the better. What she saw today was a beautiful and heartwarming side of the Mermaid ace that left the redhead speechless. She recalled Kagura's smile under the shimmer of fake sunlight. Her beauty was intoxicating. Any man she would date would be lucky to even see that smile.

Erza heard someone landing behind her. She turned around to see Jellal standing there, a soft smile on his face.

"I see you're quite content today, Erza," Jellal noticed.

"Lots have happened lately. I can't help but smile," Erza admitted.

"Well, when it comes to that dark guild I mentioned last week, we found out that what we're up against is bigger than we first thought. We've been taking down multiple small dark guilds around the area, but their lips have been sealed thus far. I'll update you again soon if anything notable happens," Jellal updated.

"Like I said before, if things go out of your hands, request my help," Erza told Jellal, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I will, Erza. Stay safe," Jellal promised before leaving.

Despite the short conversation, it was nice to see Jellal doing well. She also knew well how risky it was for him to be around a public area so early at night, especially at the guild housing the people he hurt the most. Therefore, Erza wasn't bothered by the brief amount of time Jellal had for her. Any amount of time between the two was time well spent in her eyes.

Moments later, Kagura came into the room, still smiling.

"You're still smiling, Kagura," Erza commented, smiling back. Kagura's smile was contagious; it can't help but make others smile when they see it.

"I guess I am," Kagura said, "I don't want this feeling to go away. I haven't felt like this in years."

"Who knew a training session would make you feel like that?" Erza asked.

"It's funny that you mention that, Nee-san. I'm happy because I opened up to my guild for the first time, and because you noticed my improvement in battle. I can't help but smile because I feel like a human being again," Kagura explained. Truthfully, she couldn't explain exactly why she was so happy. She just was, and she wanted to stay this way for as often as she could.

Erza climbed into bed. After washing up, Kagura made her way to bed as well, a smile still on her face. Kagura snuggled close to Erza, wrapping the redhead into a tight hug.

"Today has been one of the best days in my life. Thank you, Nee-san," Kagura whispered. Erza smiled and returned the embrace.

"I'll do my best to make sure you stay happy, Kagura. I promise," Erza said. Kagura no longer detested promises, for she found someone she knew she could trust in keeping them.

No more words were said as the two 'sisters' fell asleep in each other's arms. It had only been about a week since Erza showed up at Mermaid Heel, but her impact on Kagura's life was immense. Kagura was now smiling with so much hope. Her heart was now beating again.

 **Nothing like Kagura kicking ass and smiling.**

 **naterthegreater: I'm very hit or miss in terms of comedy, but I'll try my best to have some funny moments from here on out. But, I must warn you, I got some dark and serious stuff planned, along with comedic scenes.**

 **Explanations:**

 **Muahaha! Even Erza's plot armor isn't safe from my bias towards Kagura! Nah, I'm kidding. Despite her battles, Erza is still my favorite character along with Kagura, hence why I'm even writing this story. I wasn't bashing her, and I wasn't trying to make people believe Kagura's magically stronger than Erza. I personally view them as all-out equals, and treat each other as such. Neither really went all out**

 **I added some realism by giving Kagura a power resembling Einstein's theory of Gravitational Time Dilation. For you super science buffs, you'll know that it BARELY affects time on Earth (which, in reality, affects time by only nanoseconds), but since this is a fantasy series we're talking about, I decided that her power alters time by milliseconds. It may not seem fast at all, but in a battle involving blink-of-an-eye speed, every shred of time matters.**

 **Kagura's smile was hard to provide imagery on because she only smiled once in the entire series, and that smile was kind of a light smirk. I imagine that Kagura's smile has to be beautiful. Kagura's hot, but there's a small difference between hot and beautiful. I just hope Kagura returns this arc (Albareth/Alvarez).**

 **Also, in the battle between Kagura and her team, it was difficult playing believable scenarios. I didn't want the battle to last forever nor did I want Kagura to steamroll her own team. I tried to give everybody some time to shine. That was difficult because other than Millianna, Kagura's team barely had any spotlight at all in the series (not blaming Hiro since they are quite irrelevant characters whose purposes basically amount to praising Kagura).**

 **And no, the story is not almost over yet. It may seem so since Kagura's smiling and her guild is starting to see and feel the effects of her change, but there's still a lot of time and a lot of ground to cover. Kagura still has to tell everyone the whole story of the hell she went through that led her to joining Mermaid Heel, and there are still some ideas that I have that Erza and Kagura can do during the remaining 18-20 weeks before Erza joins Jellal in taking down Avatar.**

 **Next chapter is most likely the long awaited beach scene. I've held out on it, and I know I'm pissing someone off for holding out on this for so long. It's one of those comedic scenes, like the shopping. I decided to make separate arcs between light-hearted comedies like the shopping scene and the upcoming beach scene, dark scenes like Kagura's childhood and her nightmare at the start of this chapter, epic fight scenes like the first half of this chapter and Elena's rescue mission in the prologue, and some feels scenes like the first night with Erza and Kagura, the latter portion of this chapter, and Elena's death. After this, I need to think up some more scenarios and stuff.**

 **Stay tuned, since I don't know how long it will be until I'm done, since this took a month to finish. College started, so naturally it's going to be difficult to have progress done on the next chapter, and most likely the rest of this story, but I'll try my best to get it done as soon as I can.**


	8. Update

Hello all!

I apologize if you were expecting a new chapter, but here is an update with everything going on.

So, the chapter is still in the works. I unfortunately haven't done too much. I think I've only done 500-ish words.

Reasons: I have no time. College is kicking my ass and I just haven't had the motivation to continue the story lately. That may change, since Kagura is finally back in the manga and I am HYPED! I'm still going to finish the story, for damn sure, but I need to take a hiatus for a little while. I have a life too, and it's at that unmotivated phase, but I'll push back into shape eventually.

Also, I've had severe writer's block. As much as I planned for the beach visit, I haven't planned on what exactly they'll do there. I don't want to spoil anything, but I did have some fun activities planned, but I feel like more is necessary.

So in terms of the story progression, I'm gonna try to make Kagura less… emo… I justified it by adding signs and conditions of PTSD, but I'll diversify her personality, as will be evident in the upcoming beach chapter. She'll be more sarcastic, tsuntsun, and maybe even sassy if I really feel like having fun.

One more thing. I need to do more planning on the story in terms of mini-arcs and whatnot and whether to do more small timeskips. I covered just under two of the six months of Erza's timeskip before joining Jellal for the latter 6 months of the one year timeskip, so I still have a ways to go.

Anyways, I'll still try to get the chapter out as soon as I could, but it will be difficult with college and finals week coming up. My goal is to get the next chapter out before Christmas. So stay tuned until then!


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